The Shinigami Side Effect
by Plume85
Summary: /Non-mass\ It was obvious you should not use a jutsu that summons the Shinigami without knowing everything that could happen, yet I did. Because I was an Uzumaki, I wasn't sent into its stomach for eternity, but in my thirteen-year-old body, in front of Uchiha Shisui who got me out of the Bloody Mist of Yagura. Now, how much does the Shinigami side effect will change History?
1. Konoha Arc: Chapter 1

****Hello! Thanks in advance for reading this fiction, or at least this chapter.****

 ** **Just to be clear, it is an Alternative Universe starting two months before Shisui' death. The protagonist is an OC and it is a reincarnation fic, but the protagonist is from the Naruto Universe as we know it. Her knowledge is based on what people told her and her own experience. The whole reincarnation process is explained through the story and it's...you need to read it carefully to understand all of it I think, as I used a technique, the Death Reaper Seal, that does not have a lot of explanations in the manga and gave it a story.****

 ** **I apologize in advance for any mistakes, English is not my first language.****

 ** **Enjoy!****

 ** **Disclaimer: I own Akane and Akiko, the rest is Masashi Kishimoto.****

 ** **Chapter rewritten on 01/15/2019.****

* * *

There was a lot of things that could go wrong with fuinjutsu. I knew about it, as I had been a Seal Master ever since I was twenty-seven. It was almost ten years ago I took this exam and became the third youngest Seal Master in Konoha, the other two being Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato. As I knew my fuinjutsu, I knew the slightest millimeter, the slightest dose of ink, counted in the success of a seal.

I knew all of that.

I also knew one should not experiment seals on themselves. There were a lot of rules in fuinjutsu, one being you should not test a seal on a living being. Of course, I was no stranger at breaking that rule by testing on myself.

This...this was different.

There was nothing in the scroll mentioning sides effects. I summoned the Shinigami, gave him my soul to save my son, Shisui, and his sister, Akiko, who was hurt outside. I summoned them to save my children and seal the unstable seal back, Sasuke and his eyes powerless next to me. I was expecting to be faced with eternal turmoil with the man I sealed with me.

Not...running away from a ghost.

"Will you stop!?"

"Shut up fake, shut up!" I shouted back, running through the trees, away from him.

"I'm not fake! I know it was a long time ago, but I swear I'm Uchiha Shisui Aka-chan!"

"Shut up!" I sped up and bumped into him suddenly. He grabbed me rather harshly by the shoulders, an angry snarl on his face.

"Alright, enough now. Stop calling me a fake." He raised a kunai next to my head and I stared at it nervously, until I felt something being cut. "Ha! Finally I can get this off!" I blinked in confusion at the forehead protector in his hand, Kiri symbol carved in it.

"What...what...how old am I?" He looked down at me in concern and pursed his lips.

"Itachi's thirteen next month, so you turned thirteen two weeks ago, didn't you?"

Itachi was twelve? But...but he died almost fifteen years ago, almost at the age of twenty-two!

"Akane, let's sit down for a second, okay? You're acting weirdly." He sat me down against the trunk of a tree and stayed crouched in front of me.

"Captain Shisui, is everything alright?" someone asked him. Shisui turned to them and nodded.

"Yes, I have everything under control. Work on the fastest way to her mother's." They left swiftly and Shisui sighed, his hands now palpating my head. "I'm sure my genjutsu was controlled, could it be you have bad reactions to the Sharingan?"

I bit the inside of my cheek and went over everything I knew.

I was a thirty-six, almost thirty-seven, Seal Master from Konoha, named Sasaki Akane. I was born in Kiri and wore my birth name, Uzumaki, for a year, although I had a quarter of Yuki blood in my veins. When I was one, my family, my parents, my brother and I, left Kiri and its regime to have a better life. We settled down in the Land of Hot Water, where, I did not know how, my mother found her cousin back. Cousin who had been sent from Uzushio to Konoha before the former's destruction. It was Aunty Kushina, and when she visited, although it was war, Minato-oji and his team, Obito-nii, Rin-nee and Kakashi-nii, were there. Until Obito died, until Rin died. One day, my father lost his mind and tried to kill me. Kakashi had me in his arms and tried to protect me and my brother, who was sick, the same sickness than Itachi, protected us and died from my father's chains, under my godfather's powerless eyes.

After that event, Mom left me in Kushina's and Minato's care for a year, to grieve and be sure she could take care of me. I had good memories of it, and befriended Shisui. I spent a lot of time with him, and once when Itachi was with him, I called him a 'cute girl' and he blushed in shame. The day I left, Shisui came to tell me goodbye. I had to say goodbye to my heavily pregnant aunt at her home and she hugged me tightly. At the gate, Minato-oji promised to send us a letter when he would be done with preparing our installation in Konoha, and gave me a book from his sensei about a shinobi called Naruto, hugged me tightly and asked me to behave.

A month later, we received a letter from the Third Hokage. He was informing us of their death, and the death of their baby boy Naruto because of the Kyuubi.

Mom refused to go to Konoha. There was an Elder, Shimura Danzou, who had...voiced some interests in me and my potential. Without Minato, it was too risky to go back there. We were fine for a few years, slowly moving on from our losses. As Uzumakis, Mom made us move a lot. She taught me how to defend myself, kept training me in fuinjutsu, continuing what oji-chan and Aunty had done in Konoha, made me refine my chakra control.

At the age of eleven, I found myself facing Hoshigaki Kisame and Samehada. The Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, had sent him to take me to Kiri to become a shinobi. The First Mizukage had established a law stating any baby born in Kiri was Kiri's property.

It was that exact law he was using.

I tried to fight back, awakened my Hyōton, but still lost and found myself in Kiri. I found myself in the Bloody Mist, being the apprentice of the very man who gave it this name. It was hard, violent. It was abuse every single time I did not meet his expectations. The expectations my father had fulfilled and thrown away when he left for his family, the expectations my brother, Fubuki, the genius he had been, fulfilled easily too. I was not them, I did not want to be a shinobi, I did not like that system, but it was my survival. The villagers hated me, seeing in me an easy way to attack Yagura, ignoring how I hated him too. The only nice person I knew was Mei-sensei, who was training me with my kekkai genkai.

I could not have a break, unless I ended up in the hospital. When I became a genin, I was put in a team with sensei, her younger brother and Mangetsu. It became easier then, I was not as alone as before.

I tried five times to leave the village, then gave up on that idea. I went from nothing to jounin in a year and a half. One day, I was sent on a mission, which result would tell me if I could integrate the ANBU. It was a success and we were on our way back when Shisui appeared in front of me and knocked me out.

I was not a genius, but I would do anything to survive. When Shisui told me Mom had hired a team to get me out of Kiri, I looked at Shisui in disbelief but when I was back with my mother, I cried and ran in her arms. Shisui and his team stayed a little. He promised to come back when it was safe for us to go to Konoha, a deep concern lingering in his eyes. He promised he would help me see a place where people would not be used and seen as weapon, and we stayed in contact through letters.

It was also him, before leaving, who told us of a blond little boy called Uzumaki Naruto, living in Konoha. Mom and I did not go though, it was too dangerous.

And in a dark part of my mind, I did not want anything to do with him as he was the reason his parents were dead. At least, it was the stupid and senseless thoughts I had at the time.

Two months later, I received a letter. I was happy, it was Shisui, but I was surprise at the note at the bottom of the page. It was another hand writing, and dropped on my knees when I read Shisui had killed himself.

This rotten world had taken someone from me once again.

At the age of sixteen, maybe seventeen, I met a guy. I had a crush on him and let my guards down.

Even when he told me his name was Sasori, I did not see any threat. He was just the sweet and cute guy who liked art. Three months after I met him, I went and saw my mother's body on the floor, Sasori leaving as if it was nothing. I fell on my knees and cried, begged for my mother to come back but nothing.

I took what mattered the most to me and set the house, my mother's body still inside, on fire.

A year after wandering around aimlessly, I saw him with a loud blond guy. I tried to attack him, not caring if I died because, who was waiting for me to go home, when Itachi, my Itachi, caught me by the waist.

I traveled with Hoshigaki-san and him for a while until I stayed in a village near the border of the Land of Fire in the Land of Earth. I had developed a friendship with Itachi, because of Shisui and how he trusted him entirely. I knew there was something nobody knew about the Uchiha massacre he had committed. When he came to my place, I was sure of it. He kept coming and I kept welcoming him back.

In my house, and in my bed mostly. I fell deeply in love with him.

I was perfectly aware it would be pointless. He was sick, and implied he would die facing his brother. The naive part of me dreamed of him staying because he loved me. The rational part of me knew it would not happen.

I tried though, I tried to make him stay. He told me he loved me and knocked me out with his sharingan. I woke up, on my couch, realizing he was really gone. I was alone once again.

After his death, I was surprise to see Hoshigaki-san coming at the tea shop I worked at. I was not good, I was depressed and by his presence and his only, I knew Itachi was dead. He also told me that the Akatsuki probably would not try anything against me, and left. I fainted when he did, and when I woke up, at the local doctor, she told me I was pregnant.

That there were two fetuses. After a year and a half, I had drawn a contraceptive seal to stop using condoms, but it failed the last time I had seen my love.

The pregnancy was hard. The Fourth Shinobi War was fought, and the Infinite Tsukuyomi we were all put under made me even worst emotionally speaking. I would raise my babies alone. In December, someone knocked on my door. I had trouble to get up.

I had frozen on my spot at the teenager in front of me, barely taller than me. He was missing an arm, but the most striking was his resemblance to his brother.

As Sasuke introduced himself to me, explained to me how Itachi asked him to bring me to Konoha as Danzou was dead, how he showed him where I lived and what I looked like, I felt my heart break.

My water broke too.

I went into a long a painful labor, Sasuke staying by side and, dared I say, panicked at what was happening. However, as he had guessed the babies were his brother's, he stayed and held my hand. I almost broke his last hand by doing so.

However, he was actually here with the Rokudaime's permission and request. For the first four months, we did not move. He kept sending eagles to Konoha and years later, he told me ANBU were around to keep an eye on us. He had escaped a long imprisonment because of me.

Sasuke loved his nephew, Shisui, and his niece, Akiko but mostly called Aki, to death. They were a part of his brother, the good there was in him, and would protect them, and me because Itachi had asked him to, with his life.

I said 'no', that I was not important. That the children would always come first now. He stared at me but nodded solemnly anyway.

Then, we went to Konoha. I would raise my babies there, even if I knew sensei had become the Fifth Mizukage. I had too many bad memories there. Konoha would be good, even if I dreaded meeting my cousin, now war hero.

What was not my surprise to see Kakashi-san sitting where Minato-oji used to sit, a relieved expression on face, with no sharingan anymore. He got up quietly and hugged me, careful of my son sleeping in my arms as Sasuke had Aki behind me. He told me he was glad I was back home and I apologized for taking so much time because of my cowardice.

Then, someone knocked on the door. Two persons entered and greeted Sasuke with enthusiasm. A blond boy and a pink-haired girl. They froze at the baby looking at them with big, onyx eyes, whereas my son was still sleeping peacefully. Then they saw me, asked Sasuke if I was the person he had to pick up.

Sakura was lost at my sight and the baby that looked a lot like Uchihas, but Naruto had that knowing look when he set his blue eyes on me that told me he knew they were Itachi's. Kakashi-san then introduced me, not forgetting to tell them how I was related to Naruto. He stared at me with disbelief, not believing he had any blood family left.

Without a word, he hugged me tightly, calling me 'nee-chan' instantly. I hugged him back weakly. Kakashi-san helped me find a place and asked me to, as one day people would know my children were Uchihas, to say it was a one night stand. I agreed grudgingly. I did not want my children to be known as the children of a mass murderer.

Once I had a place, Sasuke moved in with me until he left to travel again. We were under ANBU's surveillance. I was still getting used to be here and having Naruto around, and he was getting used to be back among people he betrayed once. For a while, we were only comfortable with each other and he was, apart from the kids, the first real family I had in this new Konoha. We were sibling by everything but blood, like him and Naruto, through our deep love for Itachi.

At some point, he showed me Itachi's memories. I had been told of everything about the war, about Obito and everything he did, about Madara, about Kaguya, about that Black Zetsu thingy.

About how my best friend, Mangetsu, had died years before the war.

So, Sasuke showed me the memories Itachi showed him before being released from the Edo Tensei. Ever since that day, I had a bad reaction to the Sharingan.

Ever since that day, I regretted letting Shisui go back to Konoha.

Time passed by. The twins grew up and befriended Sarutobi Mirai. Naruto, to whom I apologized and was now closed to because he just wanted me to feel at home, married Hinata. Sasuke came back, stayed a little at home, and left on another journey, with Sakura. They came back with a baby and stayed with us until they got a place.

Eventually, everybody got kids. I became friends with Temari, and therefore with Shikamaru. I was working on the barrier around Konoha and for the Hokage directly until I had my diploma, so I would see him often. He would play shōgi with them.

Shisui was cheerful and kind of lazy by nature, not showing his genius, because they had to inherit this from Itachi of course, to be left alone, whereas Aki was not afraid to show it, but she was also calm to most situations. I grew close to Kakashi-san, slowly seeing once again as the brotherly figure I used to see him as when I was a child.

My children were put on a team with Mirai under Rock Lee's supervision.

As for me, Sasuke's missions being sometimes related to seals, I would help him. It turned out the Otsutsuki clan used a lot of old fuin and I was the only one able to read. Kakashi-san would also send me on occasional missions, but there were rare. When Naruto took the hat, he stopped that except if it was Sasuke's request.

That was how I used the Death Reaper Seal. We investigated an unstable seal and found my children's team. Aki was hurt and Shisui angry. He followed us and got hurt. I used this kinjutsu. I was fully prepared to die.

I was not prepared at facing _Uchiha_ Shisui. I tried to break the genjutsu, but nothing except him looking at me funny, making me realize it was reality.

"Akane!" I glared at Shisui. "Good, you're back. You've been spacing out for fifteen minutes! We're supposed to bring you back to your mo..." He stopped when I jumped on my feet and checked his pulse. He raised a brow.

"You're alive," I stated with a lump in my throat. "I...am alive too."

"Yeah, we're both alive," he confirmed warily. "Look, I have to..."

"Bring me to Konoha with you."

"What? No!"

"Shisui, Danzou is dangerous, you have to bring me..." He put his hand against my mouth with wide, alert eyes.

"Don't say that kind of things so loudly," he hissed at me quietly, his face close to mine. I nodded quickly and he removed his hand. "I know he's creepy but...he's an Elder."

"Shisui, he's going to steal your eyes." Shisui stopped at that and his face lost all friendliness. "I...I...I should not be here, I should be dead."

"What are you saying?"

"The coup won't happen, but not because of you. Danzou will steal your eye, you'll kill yourself and give the other to Itachi, and he'll be ordered to kill all of them!" I found myself pinned against the tree, a kunai against my throat.

"How do you know that? How many spies does Kiri have?" he asked me in an icy tone, his eyes bleeding red as three tomoe were spinning in them. I bit the inside of my cheek. Of course, Shisui was a great shinobi, he would have such reaction.

"Look into my memory then, look and see for yourself if they're fake or not."

"Don't mind if I do then, _Akane_ ," he said, stressing threateningly on my name. I found myself falling, thinking about Itachi's memories, and everything I knew about him.

It did not last long, but I found myself sliding against the tree, exhausted. I hated the Sharingan with a passion, so much it pushed me to create a seal to block any dōjutsu. It took time and a lot of research, but I did.

However, Shisui slowly sat down in front of me, eyes wide open in horror.

"Shisui?"

"The clan...all dead...Itachi..." He took his head in his hands. "Fuck, Itachi and Sasuke!" I averted my eyes to the ground when I felt his on me. "The twins he never...fuck!" I gulped silently.

I...I truly was back in my thirteen year-old body, wasn't I? I...I was in the past, Shisui was still alive and could be saved. Itachi's future could be saved.

It was…

"How is it possible that you..."

"The jutsu, I can only think of that." He nodded swiftly, stood up and pulled me on my feet. He caught me when my legs could not support me. "Sorry, the Sharigan...HA!" I squeaked as I was on his back, his arms under my knees.

"You and your mother are going to Konoha. It's too dangerous to leave you in the wilderness." I bit the inside of my cheek and tensed. The way he was speaking...I was not a fan of it. He must have sensed it because he turned his eyes to me. "Akane, do you trust me?"

"Yes."

"Then trust me when I say I won't fail this time. That you want it or not, I'm in this with you. I don't understand how, and you don't look like you do either, but I'm with you." I leaned my chin on his shoulder and nodded. Then, a slight blush made its way on his cheeks. "And sorry, I've seen one or two encounters you've had with Itachi." I blinked and blushed furiously, knowing what he meant.

"Forget about it?"

"Trust me I'll try," he mumbled to himself.

After two days of traveling, my eyes watered when I spotted the old place we lived in. One of the old places we lived in. Mom came out of the house in the blink of an eye and raised her hand to her mouth when she saw me.

Shisui put me down, as he wanted to carry me on his back and who was I to say no to that kind of proposition, and I stood there, frozen in my spot. Shisui gave me a push and smiled at me in front of my panicked gaze. He body flickered away with his team to give us some space.

When I looked in front of me, I almost had a heart attack at my mother right in front of me. She was frowning though, accentuating the single wrinkle in her forehead. Her bright red hair, slightly darker than Kushina's, was still long and reached her chest, but her gray eyes were staring, making me uncomfortable.

"Honey," she called me and I fought the urge to weep, her voice bringing me so much memories. "What did you do?"

"Wh...what?" She knelt in front of me and caressed my cheek in a motherly way.

"I know it's you, that you are _you_ but your chakra...feels older that it should. There's something more to it...something that reminds me of death." I started sobbing and told her what was going on between my sobs.

She hugged me and listened without a word.

Actually, she sighed at the end.

"Mo...Mom?"

"That idiot, leaving something like that at everybody's sight when...I don't know everything about it, but I know Minato put the pieces together from what he got his hands on. We lost a lot in Uzushio, it would not be surprising if an entire chunk of the jutsu or its aim had been lost too." I snorted loudly and wiped away my tears with the back of my hand.

"So...so what? He didn't use it correctly?" She shrugged.

"I don't know honey, but I know you should not use a jutsu without knowing its side effects."

"So what, my soul being thrown back in time is...is like the Shinigami side effect?"

"Probably, maybe Konoha has..."

"Yes, let's go to Konoha! We have to!"

Knowledge was power. Right now, I was powerful.

If...this was real, I felt like it was surreal but real nonetheless, so I...I had to do something, right?

Change things.

Try to make it better.

Give Shisui and Itachi a future.

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 ** **Thanks for reading!****


	2. Konoha Arc: Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own Akane and Akiko, the rest is Masashi Kishimoto.**

* * *

It takes a day and a half to go to Konoha. My mom doesn't bring up the fact she'll never see her daughter ever again, and I honestly can't say if she really cares about it or not. Somehow, the fact I can take care of myself probably reassures her but...argh, I've never been able to really know what my mom was thinking or planning, no matter how much I tried.

"What are you doing?" Shisui asked when we were taking a break.

"I have knowledge but I need to know if my body follows."

"And why are you touching my face?"

"Because you're my guinea pig."

"Just when we meet again after eight years...and that's all I get for getting you out from Kirigakure..." he mutters dramatically, "I'm hurt."

"First of all, you kidnapped me on a mission and made them believe I was dead, second of all activate your sharingans."

"Why?"

"Just do it already!"

He snorts and crosses his arms on his chest. Slowly a teasing grin appears on his face.

"That's not how you ask something from someone who gets you out of the grasp of a village which kidnapped you. Someone who's also your friend and older than you are."

"So you can't make friends your own age, got it."

"I'm gonna tell Akiko-san how mean you are to me." he announces, getting up.

I open my eyes wide. No matter my age, my mom is and always will be scary when upset. So I grasp his sleeve and make my best not to glare at his evil grin.

"Please Shisui?"

"Hum?"

"Shisui- _sempai_?"

His grin gets even wider if possible and he pats my head as if I was an animal.

"Now, was that so complicated?"

"Just do it please."

"Fine." he agrees and a few seconds pass in silence. "What did you do?"

"You can't activate them? Good, I still can do that then."

"Did you seal my eyes?"

"Yep. But it takes a lot of my chakra, with the reserves I have today. I can't reproduce my seal to block the chakra system though."

"You really did become good huh." he tells me, eying what I was writing on a blank paper seal.

"Fuinjutsu is to the Uzumakis what genjutsu is to the Uchihas." I simply state, finishing the seal quickly.

"What are those?"

"Oh, the paper version of the one you have," I explain, forming the Tiger sign to cancel it, "had. You've seen what...Sasuke said about Danzo's way of fighting."

He frowns, crouching in front of me to take a better look at the seal.

"I always knew there was something off about that guy anyway," he whispers.

"I didn't get all of it, only it was sharingan related and pretty dangerous."

I stop and look at his right eye painfully.

"Hey, I'm here and my eyes won't leave their socket," he reassures me with a smile "we're going to change everything and nobody will die."

"Except for that bastard."

"We'll see about that, it's not up to us. But, making as many canceling dōjutsu seals is the best we can do for now."

"I don't see you making any seal."

"I'm moral support! That's important!"

"Once I'll be classified as a crazy teenager, yeah."

"Don't worry, I'll be with you."

"Thanks." I say with a smile.

He scratches the back of his head and turns to his teammate to answer him.

"Okay, time's up Aka-chan, we're leaving."

I pack my things and return to my mother's side, who gives me a small smile.

"Minato better dug his way out of his grave if he wants to keep his title in Fuinjutsu."

"That's dark mom."

And God knows how it can be literal for certain persons.

"I know, I know, but it's not as if you don't make jokes like that."

"Yeah, and I know where it comes from."

Anyways, Shisui's teammates are like, so silent! They're probably wondering why we're going with them.

"Sorry to interrupt but..."

"Hum?"

"Madam, you knew the Yondaime?" a ninja with glasses asks.

"No, she likes asking total strangers to be her daughter's godfather." I reply with a deadpan expression.

Shisui kicks me in the butt.

"Hey!"

"Don't go around saying stuff like that!" he scolds me, jumping next to me.

I open my mouth to answer but nothing. He's right, I had completely forgotten that the period was different. No peace treaties between the Five Great Shinobi Countries yet. Geez, that's the only good outcome of the war.

"Well, what's done is done," my mom sighs, which makes me blush in embarrassment.

Nothing comes out of my mouth until we reach the gate of Konohagakure.

Why?

Because that's only when we reach the gates that I see a mop of undisciplined gray hair.

"Kakashi-san!"

"What?" he replies, raising his eyes from his book.

Book he drops when he sees my huge grin. His eye widen and the only thing he does is pointing his finger at me. Just to check he glances at my mother.

"A...Akiko-san?"

"It's been a while, Kakashi-kun."

"That means that you're..."

"Missed me?" I ask, grinning evilly.

He picks up his book and body flickers away from me.

"Rude." I say, shaking my head.

"I've never seen him looking so..."

"Traumatized?" I finish for him.

Shisui nods.

"I was such a talented five-year-old."

* * *

I can't even raise my eyes. I've never met the Third Hokage, and I've barely seen the Fifth to be honest. But still, it's weird to think that this old man is the most powerful in the village.

He's also the one who made Minato-oji-chan the Hokage. If I remember well, my godfather and aunty Kushina told me it him becoming the Yondaime would bring changes within the village. I'm sure that if he hadn't died the Uchiha massacre wouldn't have happened in the first place. But he did what a Kage had to do.

Protect the village at the cost of his own life.

Then, Sandaime came back. But what I don't get, is why he...if he saw changes in Minato, then even if he died, the Third shouldn't have forgotten what Minato could have done and tried to do it himself!

"I see. Raise your eyes child."

I bite the inside of my cheek and do as told. Shisui gives me an encouraging smile and steps back. Hopefully, he managed to get the Hokage alone so that unwanted ears don't hear what I have to say.

A shiver go through my entire body as my eyes meet his. Not that he looks mean or anything, but there is something akin to...I'd like to say wariness, but that's too logical, it's something else.

In total honestly, it kinds of freak me out.

"How did you die?"

" _Shiki Fūjin_ , the Dead Demon Consuming Seal."

"Minato's jutsu...do you have the seal then?"

I raise an eyebrow. The seal? Oh yeah, the seal from when the Shinigami plunged his arm through my stomach to take that bastard's soul and...

I raise my top enough to show my stomach. Nothing. But my mom said my chakra had something deadly now so maybe...

I summon some chakra on the palm of my hand and put it on my skin.

"Aouch!" I snap, looking at my hand with a frown. "It burned me!"

"But it is the seal."

The Hokage stands up and approaches us.

"I remember seeing it on Minato."

"So you don't think I am crazy ?"

"I have to say I am a little skeptical. However, you do know things I know Shisui-kun would not have told anyone and I can sadly recognize that seal. Now, no matter how I would like to know what happened for your soul to travel back in time, we have more important things to deal with."

"You believe me so easily?"

"I would like to say I know Danzo and that he will not order this but, I know him. And his past actions do not make him innocent."

"Sandaime..." Shisui starts, but he stops when the Hokage raises his hand.

"I want to convince the Uchihas that the village is not their enemy, but they will be hard to convince."

"May I suggest something?"

"Yes Shisui-kun?"

"Itachi and Sasuke...they don't have a bright future. Fugaku-sama is the head of the clan but also their father. Maybe he...he'll change his mind for them. Fugaku-sama doesn't want any bloodshed either, if we can prove that it's not the village in itself but only Danzo-sama the problem then..."

"Then he can get the whole clan to cooperate."

Shisui nods at the Third. They're already elaborating a plan.

"Your name is Akane, right?"

"Yes!" I say a little bit too loud.

"Your mother and you will stay hidden until the end of this. But, we will still your help. Probably both of you actually."

"Oh right...my mom can fight too..." I mutter. With time, I completely forgot she was a kunoichi when Uzushiogakure was still a village and that, as an Uzumaki, she is a specialist in fuinjutsu.

"You shouldn't underestimate your mom Aka-chan."

Shisui is quickly dismissed and my mom joins me and finally, finally takes off that ugly hat covering her hair.

"Sandaime-sama."

"We have a lot to discuss, Uzumaki-san."

* * *

I peek outside the window. I think at least two ANBU are here to make sure nothing happens to us, maybe more I don't know. That's normal, if Danzo knew we were here, he would take God knows where, to kill me, exploit me or make me one of his slaves.

I shiver at that thought. Even if it was a crime, I was so relieved when Sasuke told me he had killed that piece of shit. How this man managed to have this much power and influence for so long is a real mystery to me. But the fact he ordered Itachi to kill his clan...not so much. Sasuke told me Danzo thought everything he did was for the village, with a huge amount of disgust in his voice, and maybe it was true at first, when there were war. But what does someone who gains influence thanks to war do in time of peace. Try to create more conflicts that there is to impose his view and his solution as the only efficient one.

Eventually, they will steal things from his victims too. Like their eyes.

I sigh deeply. Konoha is so...old. I mean, that's the place that became my home, but not quite yet. I won't see my kids coming back from mission, hungry like wolves. I won't see my nephew and nieces anymore.

I didn't think about it until now because of the 'maybe it's a dream' but I know it's not. The seal on my stomach which reacts to my chakra proved it. I'm not in a genjutsu, it's not a dream and I'm not in the afterlife.

I lie down on my bed and slip under the covers, covering my face as well.

It's the people who lost someone who mourn, who with time overcome the grief of losing someone. It's not supposed to be the opposite. They're alive, they're all alive and well but I'm not...I'm a lifetime away from them. I'll never see my children anymore.

I said I would try my best to make things better, try to keep people from dying but...

But...

But can I have the strength to start all over again when these memories of another lifetime are here?

I scream in my pillow in frustration.

* * *

Oh, I know from where Itachi and Sasuke both got their cold look now.

I'd almost wet my pants if it wasn't for Shisui behind me. Geez, he's pretty busy and we got back only two days ago. I spent the entire day yesterday making seals with my mom, who, even if I know what I do by now, found some small details that could be corrected to strengthen the seals. I just did it, because from the knowing look she would give me, I'm sure she's heard me screaming into my pillow.

Anyway, Fugaku Uchiha, is staring at me. Like, straight into my eye and I grasp the bottom of Shisui's shirt tightly. The only thing he does is putting his hands on my shoulders.

"What is the meaning of this Sandaime?" he asks coldly, finally averting his eyes from me to the Hokage. "Your way, now you know what the Uchihas are planning, to stop it is a teenage girl? Aren't you going to eject us from the village?"

"I still think we can find a way to avoid the fight."

Fugaku-san crosses his arms over his chest. Shisui's hands twitch on my shoulder when the Clan's head takes a few steps toward me, his eyes turning red.

"I apologize in advance for any embarrassing things you may see concerning me and your eldest son, and please skip them or forget them after." I blurt out, fighting the need to scratch the side of my nose in discomfort. I thought Sasuke's or Itachi's glare were deadly, they're just cute little puppies next to their father.

Hopefully, it is a comparison I will never say out loud. Or in front of them.

So, as I feel like I'm being pull in a corner of my mind, I barely feel the burn from the seal Mei-sensei did, the one which block every informations about Kirigakure. To be fair, even if I've never taken interest in it because it never bothered me, I should study it a little bit. But anyway, that awful sensation the sharingan always gives me leaves my mind and I stumble back, Shisui stabilizing me against him.

The thing is, I'm not the one deciding what to show, it's them. They decide where they'll go in my brain and well...what they see. And well, I didn't really think about what Fugaku's reaction would be.

However, from the little I've been told about him, seeing him frozen with a blank face while his eyes gain their dark ink color instead wasn't one of the possibilities. He stares at nothing in particular and terror washes over me suddenly. Cold fury clouds his eyes and he grabs the front of my shirt and lift me from the floor. He tries to form words but ends up clenching his teeth.

"Fugaku-sama!" yells Shisui, circling my waist with his arms. He yanks me out of his hold. But the thing is, he doesn't care. Actually, I think he's not even glaring at me but...through me?

"Fugaku, please..."

"Please what Sandaime-sama?" comes his stern answer. He clenches his fists and frowns, doing what he can to keep his anger under control. "Have you seen it? Have you seen your sons drawing each other to death or trauma in the near future?"

Sandaime closes his eyes "As a matter of fact, I have not and decided to trust Shisui-kun and Akane-kun. I will ask Inoichi to take a look too, to be certain these are real memories. But from your reaction, they're..."

"It's no genjutsu, I am sure of that." says Fugaku sharply.

"Fugaku, I do not want for such a future to become real. We still can..."

"Do you have any idea for how long my clan has been angry at the village Sandaime-sama? Ever since the Kyuubi attack we have been seen as the enemy in our own home! I've tried to keep a potential coup d'état at bay, but all your decisions have made our resentment worse!"

His facade is breaking.

"And you would use my own son..."

"It did not happen yet." I say out loud.

Oops, everyone is looking at me now.

"I know I'm a nobody who just came and told you how the Uchiha are bound to disappear, but from what Sasuke...older Sasuke told me, it was the last thing they could do after Shisui's death to prevent a civil war. Shisui is still alive right now, and Konoha is Konoha. It's not Amegakure with his civil wars or Kirigakure which is practically a dictatorship. Konohagakure was founded by two old enemies who wanted peace. Yeah, Madara turned crazy and tried to kill the First Hokage, but even then he did not believe all Uchihas were the same. Choices make us who we are. Hokage-sama, you were the First's student, and I think we all can say that most of the citizens here have inherited what you call the Will of Fire. Fugaku-sama, you've inherited it, because no matter what could happen to your son, in the end they also have it. But that Will of Fire...from what I know, Danzo do not have it. I...he is the reason why I never came to Konoha in my previous life."

"What do you mean?"

"Did...Did the Yondaime ever mentioned anything about him?"

Sandaime frowns at me.

"I see..." I murmur softly "You know I've been turned into a Kirigakure shinobi these two past years, against my will. I can't say anything about the village, except that I was another weapon, someone with the potential to make jinchurikis, with a strong chakra and bloodline. But Konohagakure is no different right now. I spent a year here when Kushina was pregnant, and I've met that Danzo when I was with the Yondaime. Once he left, he looked at me and told me to stay away from him, because he was dangerous."

"Danzo was against Minato becoming the Yondaime."

"Which is not surprising. I...I was stupid brat back then, and I tried to run away when I got scolded. I never made it to the gates of the village because what I thought was an ANBU stopped me. I just thought he was sent by Minato but..."

"I don't think Minato would have sent an ANBU to look for a little girl." Fugaku interrupts me calmly.

"Exactly. That's why a few seconds later he appeared and brought me home. I even remember him saying to that man he did not sent anyone to look for me. I wasn't able to proceed what happened at that time, but now I know he was trying to get me into his..."

"Root." the Sandaime finishes for me.

"I guess...that I'm trying to say is that..."

Danzo's actions have the same meaning than him spitting of the First's grave and turning everything Konoha represents into ashes.

"Nobody is innocent in the tensions, but Konoha without the Uchihas is not Konohagakure, just like the Uchihas, without the village, are sure a noble clan, but nothing else. Your hitai-ate with a leaf symbol in it is proof you're a part of Konoha, as much as any other clans or shinobi in here. It's not too late to avoid casualties. Even if he thinks it's for the village, Danzo is power-hungry. Hasn't he wanted the title of Hokage for many years? He..."

"Enough."

I bite my lips when the Hokage interrupts me.

"I just...want to see the Konoha my godfather loved so much, the one who allowed a foreigner in its rank. A place where we are people, shinobi, but not weapons. A shinobi's feelings are not to be seen , but that's what make them strong. That's what make them strong people and not just weapons."

I bow as low as I could, my knees and forehead on the floor. I used to be the one good with words with Shikamaru because Naruto, I swear if we weren't at peace with all the countries, could have started some wars with his word.

"Those are Minato's words." sighs deeply the Hokage with a tint of nostalgia. "Stop trembling."

I open my eyes wide. I didn't even realize I was trembling, but that's...Itachi and Sasuke could escape so much pains if...if...

"My indulgence has gone too far," sighs the Hokage once again, "but we can prevent the blood of innocents from flowing, no matter the side, Fugaku."

"What are you suggesting then?"

Now it's not the angry father, but the clan's head speaking. Even if my eyes are still closed, I hear it in his voice.

"Her speech is true. Konoha was founded with the Uchihas as one on the main founders. And as the Hokage, I shall honor the meaning Konoha bears. I would like your help, yours and your clan's, to stop Danzo from doing more harm to this village you helped to build."

I raise my head and glance at Fugaku, who's in what I'd call a staring contest with the Hokage.

"The future is not set in stone." Sandaime tells him calmly. "Your son's futures are not set in stone."

He doesn't say a word and slowly turns his head toward me, his lips in a thin line.

"Sasuke would really go as far as trying to destroy the village?"

I lower my eyes. When he told me that, I had some difficulties to believe it. But he was serious, and if it hadn't been for Naruto...he would have.

"Yes."

He closes his eyes.

"Fine, I'll keep them calm."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading !**


	3. Konoha Arc: Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own Akane and Akiko, the rest is Masashi Kishimoto.**

* * *

"You look tired." was what my mother said to me when I got home. Temporary home because it is next to the Hokage tower and just feels...empty.

"Sharingans effect." I reply, falling heavily in the couch. I drop my head back, resting it against the wall and gaze at the white ceiling. My mom hasn't moved from her spot at the window. "What are you looking at?"

She doesn't say a word for a few seconds and says quietly. "What's not there anymore."

I advert my eyes to look at her. I cock an eyebrow when I see her hair. Her usual bright red hair, darker in color than Kushina's, is dyed a dull brownish color. I open my mouth to say something but close it. Uzumaki are hunted for their blood, chakra, abilities, and easily recognized with their red hair. She wants to be invisible in the crowd. And I totally get it.

"Sorry." I mutter under my breath, casting my eyes on the wooden floor.

"No, it's a good thing we are here."

"Huh?"

"Akane, if we have the possibility, I'd like to adopt Naruto."

I look at her, speechless. Naruto has never really been a subject she likes to talk about. It's a reminder of Kushina and Minato, of the two family members she lost. As I am now, I know how it is unfair of her, of us, to treat Naruto that way. Yeah, he looks like his parents, but he is not responsible for their death. They protected him until their last breaths and it's only natural to cherish him even more. I wish I would have thought like that back then, and didn't resent him like I did for years.

I was foolish, full of anger and grief. I even thought it would be good if the Akatsuki got him, but I had slapped myself at the thought. Literally. And it's only at that moment I realized how mean it was of me to deny him, to even deny we were related. We're only distant cousins, but we're related. Just to think of how warm he was to me in my previous lifetime when we met twist my stomach in knot. I'll always feel guilty for not being here for him, for how alone he had been when he thought he didn't have a family.

"Please do." I say in a low tone. "We can't leave him alone, he's family."

"Yeah, he is, isn't he?" She murmurs, leaving her spot by the window. "Minato looks mean as a rock face. I bet Kushina made fun of him because of it."

"She sure did."

And they would try to get me to side with either of them. And most of the time, even though I wanted to side with Oji-chan, aunty Kushina would kindly remind me she was the one cooking. And food would win against Minato.

* * *

"If the Hokage didn't tell you, I don't think I can Kakashi-san."

He's still eying me suspiciously. He was asked to escort me to the Hokage tower, but because he knew me when I was a brat, he is wondering why I would be needed by the Hokage. Even though I wouldn't mind telling him, I can't. He's obviously not part of the secret by now, so he'll probably never be, and he is not the Kakashi-san I'm used to. The one who was the Rokudaime and would give me advices quite often because I was freaking out with the twins after Sasuke left.

"It's not about you coming from the Mist?" he asks again, his frown deepening.

"Nope."

"You're not in troubles, right?"

My negative answer dies on my lips. Well, I could be. I very well could be soon if I fuck up and make everything worse. Oh my...what if I make everything worse in the end!? What if the massacre happens but Sasuke and Itachi die too!?

Oh my...no, no calm down Akane, you can deal with this. You could deal with Naruto's and even Kakashi's business once they were Hokages, you can deal with this. Even that old, outdated council. Hopefully, Sandaime will keep them away from this long enough to calm everybody.

In the end, I weakly reply "Not for now at least. Now I'm panicking. Thanks Kakashi-san."

"You're very welcome."

"Jerk."

"Brat." he retorts. I'm sure he is smirking smugly under his mask. "Anyway, once you're inside, speak only spoken to."

"Ohhh, you worry about me?"

He punches me on the head but I don't show any pain. I've had worst. And in this body, it's still pretty recent.

The rest of the way to the conference room or whatever it is called is silent. I mean, Kakashi is reading his famous book, the soft porn written by Jiraya-sama, and I keep looking around, noting every differences with the Hokage Tower I know. There is no laptop now, no Thunder Rail around Konoha, Konoha is smaller...so many differences I need to get accustomed too. I can't let anything slip, I don't want to create the butterfly effect.

Even though I will create some. I just need to keep a close eye on them. For all I know, a change in events could save lives just for others to be taken instead. But I can't stop anymore. I wanted to save Shisui from this tragic end he was going to get, wanted to keep the man I loved with all my heart to choose a path he did not, that nobody, deserve.

"We're here" Kakashi announces when he stops abruptly, causing me to bump into him.

"Thanks." I mumble when he opens the door, rubbing my poor nose.

He gives me a push in the back, pushing me in the room and closing the door behind me. And now, all eyes are on me. I gulp, especially when I take note of Hiashi-sama's suspicious eyes. I was on friendly terms with hims, or so I think, because I was a part of his grandchildren family after all. But now, I just know he would use the Byakugan on me right now if he could. And it's faaaaaaar from being a nice feeling to know that.

"Akane-kun." the Hokage calls me. He shows me a chair next to him and I walk quickly to it. I almost make it fall when I pull it back, but instead I just create a ruckus when the seat hit the bottom of the table. "Calm down, nobody is going to hurt you." the Sandaime tells me, seeing me on edge.

"Okay." I say, breathing slowly to calm my heart from beating so fast.

"As I have explained before Akane-kun arrives, we are facing an immense threat coming from within. As a Hokage, I have made mistakes due to personal feelings, but we have knowledge of very dark events that could cause Konohagakure unprecedented damages. If her memories are indeed memories, then we could prevent unnecessary bloodshed. Fugaku confirmed none of them were the result of a genjutsu. Inoichi, if you could confirm the veracity of her words now."

"Of course Hokage-sama."

Yeah, Yamanaka Inoichi, Ino's father who died along Shikamaru's father during the Fourth War. Hopefully it won't be as exhausting as the sharin...

* * *

..gan. For fuck sake, where am I!?

"I have been told some things should stay private, would you mind give direction?" Inoichi-san explains, not making eye contact, in a stern voice.

"I...guess not."

To be in its own mind is strange. My feet do not touch the ground, and I can't even see one, and in front are what looks like to be scrolls in a bookcase. Oh, some of them are blue, but most of them are teal. A faded teal though.

"That's the first time I see different colors for the scrolls." The Yamanaka man notices when I was approaching a blue one.

I barely touch it that it's taken from the book case and is opened. The symbols on it change into a scene. My eyes get wide when I recognize what it is, not giving a damn about the man with me.

* * *

" _Ne oji-chan, you're the Hokage now."_

" _Sure, what about it Aka-chan?" asks Minato, looking up to see me on his shoulders._

" _Why would you risk your life for this place?" I ask with a pout._

" _Because I love Konoha."_

 _He stops in front of a bench and makes me sit on it, him doing the same next to me._

" _To me, Konoha is a place where we are people, shinobi, but not weapons." he says with a serene smile on his face, his calm blue eyes gazing at the nocturnal sight of the village. "A shinobi's feelings are not to be seen , but that's what make them strong. That's what make them strong people and not just weapons."_

" _Is that what a shinobi is?"_

" _That's what I think. Only a solid goal can make you strong. What's more solid than your will to protect those dear to you?"_

" _But...da..." I start with teary eyes._

" _That is a discussion for another time." my oji-chan cuts me sharply, a frown on his face._

 _It disappears as soon as it appeared. His smile comes back when he looks down at me._

" _Would you like a Popsicle?"_

" _Yeah!"_

" _Okay, don't move from there."_

 _I nod when he goes to the ice-cream seller. I kick into nothing, humming quietly and looking at the sight in front of me._

" _Isn't it beautiful?" asks a voice behind me._

 _I jump and get up to put some distance between me and the stranger. I make my best to keep my legs from shaking. The man scares me, half of his face is hidden, like his right arm and he has a crutch. The 'x' shape scar on his chin makes me shiver whereas my eyes are becoming teary._

" _You are scared child."_

" _You...you can't hurt me...you'll have troubles with the Ho...Hokage!" I stutter, pointing my finger at him._

" _The Hokage?" He muses, barely opening his eye to look at me._

" _Yeah! And he'll kick your bottom sir!"_

" _Minato won't always be around girl."_

 _I open my eyes wide. Who is he to call my uncle by his first name? Is he important?_

" _As the Hokage, he has to protect the village." he explains, moving toward me._

 _But he just stands in front of the fence._

" _It's a lot for one person, especially for someone as young as him."_

" _Minato-oji-chan is the strongest ninja in the world!"_

" _He is strong, but we all have our weaknesses. For Minato, it would be his family." he states harshly, looking down at me. I bite my lip. "How awful it would be if he had to choose one day. Wouldn't you like to make it easier you him, Uzumaki Akane? To help him protect Konoha?"_

 _I'm still gaping at him. Hokage is a hard job, but I...I could help him? I could keep what happened a few months ago from happening again? Mi...Minato-oji-chan wouldn't need to protect me all the time? I could protect mummy too ? And aunty Kushina? And Shisui?_

" _Yes, I want to..." I whisper, staring at my hands._

 _Flashes of a wounded Minato kneeling in front of a brown-haired man flash in front of my eyes. Tears start to pour from my eyes._

" _Come."_

" _N...now?"_

" _We don't have the time to..."_

" _What is happening here?" asks a new voice coldly when I was squeezed against a hard chest._

 _Tension rises in the air. My feet quickly leave the ground and my arms go around his neck._

" _Danzo-sama, may I know why you are talking to a **civilian** little girl?"_

" _We both know she is hardly a civilian Minato. Overprotecting her like Kushina and you are doing is a waste for the village."_

" _She is in the village until her mother is ready to take her back Danzo-sama, you have no right to try to take a child who is not even a part from this village." my godfather explains severely, staring straight into the man's eye. "Leave now and I'll forget your attempt."_

 _He gazes at us for a couple of seconds and promptly turns away._

" _O..."_

" _Hold on tight Aka-chan."_

 _I do as he says and shut my eyes when I feel like I'm disappearing. When I open them, I pout at my godfather._

" _You know I hate it when you do that."_

" _Really?" he chuckles when he puts me down. "Careful, don't fall."_

" _Why would I...wow! Where are we?"_

" _On my head." he tells me, pointing to his hair._

 _In front of us is the whole village, illuminated by the lights of the shops. It's beautiful._

" _I like to come here to think sometimes. Here." he says, giving half of the orange Popsicle._

" _Thank you. Say, oji-chan, who was this man?"_

" _Someone dangerous Aka-chan."_

 _He puts his warm hand on my hair, making me look up to him. His face bears a serious expression._

" _Promise me to stay away from him. No matter what he says, do not believe him, he is dangerous. Stay away."_

" _Okay, I will." I promise my uncle, linking my pinkie with his._

 _After a smile, we both start eating our treat._

" _Brain freeze!" we both exclaim. We look at each other and burst into laughter._

* * *

I wipe away the lonely tear on my cheek and the scroll closes by itself, going back in its shelf.

"This was a memory that happened in both of your lives, right?" Inoichi asks me. Gosh, his face doesn't let anything slip, but I guess that's to be expected. You cannot let someone's memories touch you. So, I just nod. "Then I think those teal scrolls must be from your past life, the change of color must have happened when you died and now they're faded."

I move to one of them and the same thing happens.

* * *

" _I'm coming! Stop abusing that poor doorbell!"_

 _I open the door in an hasty move, to meet Shikamaru's face. I rub my eyes. No, the lack of sleep because of my work do not make me see things. Shikamaru is standing in front of me, looking bored. But I look down, because Shikamaru wouldn't abuse an innocent bell. And...yeah, there is a pouting Shikadai, his finger still close to the bell._

" _I dare you to touch that bell." I glare at him to make it really threatening, and it seems to partially work only._

" _I still don't know who between you and mom is the scariest, Aunt Akane." he mumbles under his breath, making his way in the living-room._

" _That's such a drag," Shikamaru sighs when I move aside to let him in. "Ojamashimasu."_

" _So, work or clan's business?" I ask once he has removed his shoes. Only God knows being the only seal master within Konoha is a drag. I have to teach, but place the Hokage's orders first even though I'm technically not a kunoichi and I have request from each clans._

" _Work, I brought Shikadai because his mom is off to Suna for two weeks."_

" _So you thought my children would babysit him because that's what they've done since he was born."_

" _Something like that yeah, Akiko and Shisui are able to last against him in shōgi."_

 _As if they heard us, Shikadai passes next to us, shōgi pieces in hands. My son follows, his dark red hair messy from his nap, the shōgi table flippantly tucked under his arm. He eyes us suspiciously with his onyx eyes, the same his father had, that his sister, uncle and cousin have._

" _Good afternoon Shikamaru-san."_

" _Yo." replies Shikamaru. He waves at him and thanks me for the tea._

" _Shisui, Shikadai is waiting for that table."_

" _Right..." he mutters, leaving the room with one last glance._

" _So? Did Sasuke send a bird again?"_

" _No, actually it is about Root. Again."_

" _Even years after his death, you're still fixing Danzo's mistakes." I breathe out slowly. I've never had a great opinion of the man, he tried to kidnap me after all, but after Sasuke told me everything, about what he did to the Uchihas, to Shisui, to Itachi, it just got worse._

" _Well, just to think he was appointed as an official candidate for the Rokudaime is scary. I can't even blame Sasuke for killing him after he explained the reason. Stealing sharingans and using Orochimaru's experiments to get the First Hokage's DNA and uses Mokuton...if they had proved it at the time, he would have been made prisoner. And then he ordered the Uchiha massacre and stole that guy's eye..." he drawls, hands crossed behind his head. I look down at my cup, the spark of warmth behind icy onyx eyes flashing in my mind. "When do you think you'll tell them about their father Akane?"_

" _I don't..." I start, but I stop and sigh. The twins seventh birthday comes back in mind, when Shisui said all those awful things about Itachi when Akiko asked for her dad, how he ran away and how worry I was until Naruto and Sasuke told me they were going to bring him back. "Sasuke would be the best person to tell them."_

" _I won't go against your will."_

" _And I thank you for that." I cross my arms on my chest and glare at the cup. "Now I'm upset! How could a guy like him be free for so long!? He was under house arrest after the Uchihas massacre but honestly? The first thing he did when he was replacing the Godaime was trying to get the Five Nations to do what he wanted! Hopefully Ao-san was there!"_

" _My dad was against him being the Hokage anyway, but it's useless to dwell of what he has done. Sai told us that some old members from Root were causing tro..."_

" _I'm home!" cries a tired voice from the hallway. "Sarada, I can walk on my own..."_

" _My mom told me to take you to bed, that's what I'll do. Don't over do it nee-san." another female voice argues._

 _My niece appears in the room, my daughter's arm on her shoulders._

" _What happened to you Aki?" I ask her, eying her messy dark red hair, usually in a braid but now free, and her tired expression._

" _Nothing, we were training and Sarada got me, so we went to Aunt Sakura to fix me up and she asked Sarada to take me home."_

" _To bed." corrects the brunette. "Good afternoon Aunt Akane, Shikamaru-san."_

" _Shikamaru-san?" Aki repeats, realizing I was not alone. "Good afternoon."_

" _See, you didn't even see him. You're going to bed!" Sarada exclaims with a frown._

" _Understood Sarada-sama."_

 _They leave the room._

" _I'll help as much as I can. Who knows,, maybe he can use Izanagi too."_

" _Maybe. Or he is a part of one of the clan like Torune and Fū were. In any case, it's troublesome."_

* * *

Much more recent. I discreetly peek at Inoichi. His serious mask broke a little bit, probably from seeing his friend's son and grandson. It seems he really is deep in his thoughts though, because he didn't say anything yet, even if I raised an eyebrow, waiting patiently for him to speak his next order.

"Inoichi-san?" I call. It snaps him out of his thought and he retrieves his seriousness after a cough. "What's next?"

"I have seen enough."

"Huh?"

"I am an expert, I can feel nothing has been altered. You are telling the truth. Now, about trusting what you're saying, I do." he explains calmly. "From what I've seen, before you died, you had Nara Shikamaru's trust, and gaining a Nara's trust is tough." he added with an amused smile.

Who would have thought that getting along with Shikamaru would come handy here? Well, I also got along with Chouji, but less because I wasn't working with him often. But Karui and Temari, both being from Kumogakure and Sunagakure, and I, from Kirigakure, became friends through that. Being foreigners.

I won't see them for a long while. And I'll have to build our friendship once again.

If I'm brave enough though.

"Is it also because Danzo took some clan's children too?"

"It does." he replies immediately. The slight anger in his voice doesn't go unnoticed.

Any clan's head were pissed I guess. And if I count from today, I don't think it was that long ago it happened. Hum...the guys Shikamaru talked about, it was an Aburame and a Yamanaka if I remember well. So, there is a chance they would join forces with the Uchihas against Danzo and his Root. And if the Yamanakas do something, the Naras and Akimichis would most certainly help them.

"I will leave your mind now. You won't wake up immediately because of the reunion, but I think the Hokage will make you come in his office soon."

"Okay."

And, just as he said, I fall asleep.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading !**


	4. Konoha Arc: Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own Akane and Akiko, the rest is Masashi Kishimoto.**

* * *

It has been two days since that meeting. I spent most of my time working on various seals with my mom and testing my body's limits. I had to work on my chakra control once again and increase my reserves, because some of my techniques were too exhausting now. However, even if it was just everyday moves, like cooking of stuff like that, I realized my body had reflexes I had lost in my previous life when I had left Kiri.

But I missed the fabulous chakra control I had gained with years of fuinjutsu. I could make seals with my feet! Now I barely knew how to make seals with my hands on any hard surfaces! At least, I was still way past the needed scroll. But anyway, if I were to take part in any future events, I needed to train. Just staying in Konoha right now was dangerous, who knew when Danzo would know about my presence here and try something.

I left my bed and went in the kitchen. Mom was out because it was super quiet. I opened the fridge and winced when I realized it was empty. There was a note from my mother telling me she was out grocery shopping and that at least I had eggs. I didn't want eggs but that would do I guess.

"I'm home!" my mother said when I was cracking the second eggs in the pan, an eye on the notes my mom made on one of my seals.

"Welcome back," I mumbled.

"What are you reading?" another voice asked when a chin leaned on my shoulder.

"Oh God!" I yelled. I almost jumped out of my skin and knocked the pan down in the process. It's with my hand on my beating heart I turned around, to meet Shisui's smug grin. "Seriously!?"

"I didn't know you were so into reading that Aka-chan, sorry." Yeah, he didn't sound sorry at all that...

"What are you even doing here?"

"I met him when I left the store and he offered to help me carry the groceries. Thanks again Shisui-kun." my mother explained, setting aside some paper and other things from the vegetables. I squinted to get a better look at the non-eatable stuff.

"That was nothing Akiko-san! Plus, I wanted to see how you were both doing Aka-chan...Aka-chan!"

I didn't even spare him a glance and moved closer to what caught my attention. My eyes got wide and I was sure there were stars in them when I realized what it was.

"Mom you're awe..." I started, my hand almost grabbing the items. Almost, because she snatched it away when my fingers brushed it. "Mom!"

"Clean that mess first."

"But it's his fault!"

"Hey!" an outraged Shisui yelled in the background.

"Then make him help you." she told me with a smirk.

I pouted and got what I needed, giving to Shisui what he needed too. I glared at him when he tried to get away from this.

"I go down, you go down with me buddy."

He muttered under his breath about how evil and uncute I was unlike of how I used to be while we were cleaning and once it was done, I went to my mother's side.

"Soooo?"

"We have everything we need to make ink."

"Why not just buy ink directly?" the Uchiha inquired, and that made me sigh deeply. Why don't anybody understand the beauty within fuinjutsu and how preconceived ink is just...argh, just to think about it!

"A seal is more powerful if you draw it with an ink you made yourself." my mother started to explain calmly. "When you draw it, you must put some chakra in each stroke of the brush. With an ink you make yourself, you infuse it with your chakra before even using it. Then, not only it is easier to use, but also much more powerful."

"But what about Explosive Tags then?"

"It's neutral, and react to anyone who put a small portion of their chakra in them."

"If we have to explain the whole process of creating a seal, we will need hours and hours for each little details for every kind of seals existing today." I added with a nod. Shisui gave a side glance, to which I responded with a proud smile. "I told you fuijutsu is to the Uzumakis what genjutsu is to the Uchihas. They would spend their lives playing with it and trying to seal from the most insignificant thing to bijuus."

"Their whole lives..." my mother repeated under her breath, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Mom?"

It snapped her from her thoughts and she shook her head to me, telling me it was nothing.

"I came to tell you something too. Many things actually." Shisui informed me. He grabbed my shirt and pulled me in another room. "The Hokage asked me to explain what they planned to you. Or what Shikaku-san has planned."

"I'm all ears."

"We are doing nothing!" I gaped at him. "Kidding! Well, not totally. I don't know what memory he has seen, but from what Fugaku-sama told me, Inoichi-san joined forces with the Uchihas, like the Aburames. Well, as you can guess, the Naras and Akimichis followed. The Sandaime represents the Sarutobi clan, so it's obvious what they'll do. There is no Senju representative anymore. The Inuzukas were a little bit skeptical but it seems they're not Danzo's biggest fans."

"The Hyuugas?"

"Apparently, they were the hardest to convince, especially because they're rivals with the Uchihas and us planning a coup do not make us look like the nice guys. But they trust Sandaime's judgment."

I breathed out deeply, my mind barely registering I was holding my breath. Every clans are on the same page. That's good. But well, a clan's head has the duty to protect his clan. So, getting its members back from Root is logical when we know how the leader really is.

"We have your knowledge of how things could turn out. But we actually need proofs to attack Danzo's and his Root. So, for the time being, we are going to do as if you had told us nothing. We can't accuse an elder with no evidence he did something, and we can't use the Byakugan on him just like that."

"You were the first casualty." I reminded him, a lump in my throat.

"That's why I know all of this. Itachi and I could be in real troubles for treason against the Uchihas. But Itachi is Fugaku-sama's son and well...I have a way to be forgiven and prove I'm an excellent actor."

"You're an idiot." I said and punched him lightly in the shoulder.

"I'm a smart and handsome idiot," he chuckled "but we don't have much of a choice. We have to pretend you're clueless until the night I meet with Danzo. So, security measures concerning Akiko-san and you have been taken. You have to stay inside as much as you can, and if you go out an ANBU will be with you or look after you from somewhere. Because of the situation, it's better if it's people who know you so..."

"Kakashi-san and you?" I interrupted him with a deadpan.

"Yeah." he confirmed quickly. "It's especially for you, because he was interested in you before, so you have to keep a low profile okay? Can you promise me that?" He stared straight into my eyes and I gulped. He could be intimidating when he wanted to.

"I promise Shisui, I'll keep a low profile."

We kept staring at each other for a few seconds and he relaxed his shoulders. Running a hand through his hair, he gave me a sly grin.

"Fugaku-sama is going to have so much work, but I'm sure he can hint the Uchihas about what's going to happen. The real problem among the clan is the elders, but he can deal with them and find a way to calm them down."

"And Itachi?" I asked. Shisui lost his smile and crossed his arms over his chest. "He can't know, certainly not about me, you're okay with lying to him?"

"If it means he won't kill anyone, then yes. He's my best friend and I want to protect him too."

I found myself smiling fondly at that. When you think of Itachi, you're so sure he doesn't need anyone to look out for him or give him advices because he is so serious all the time. But now, he is still a child after all, and it seems Shisui is the only one who sees that.

"Aka-chan," Shisui called me, carefully watching my expression "you...really loved him that much, didn't you?"

"Wh...what?" I replied with a blush. Why is he asking me this out of sudden? "Why?"

"Once it's over, what are you going to do?"

"I...haven't thought about that..." I admitted, adverting my eyes from him. "I want to focus on what's going now for the moment."

He stayed silent for seconds that seemed to be minutes and nodded.

What I am going to do about Itachi huh...that's a good question indeed.

* * *

"Maybe it's because of the Shinigami seal," mom told me, her eyes following me. I was pacing, chewing on my thumb nail. "I don't see any other reason why you would feel it. Yamanaka-san knows what he does with people's mind."

Because I'm paranoid, I wanted to make sure what I know wouldn't end up in the wrong hands. So, I asked Shisui to take me to the Yamanaka shop and I asked Inoichi-san two things. One; that he made sure nobody would get in my mind by force, I would need to let them in, so he erected mental defenses. It took him a few hours and from how he was gasping for air, it was exhausting. So, the next day, I went back to ask him to finish the job. To allow me to keep my memories, but not to be able to talk about it. I honestly don't know how he managed to do that, and I don't really care. The important thing is that I did that because of Danzo, and I have a way to cancel it if I want to.

But ever since then, I've felt as if something was literally stuck in my head. And let me tell you that, it's one of the worst thing I've ever felt in my two lives.

"And speaking of that seal, is that the reason you practically brought the whole Konoha library home?" I asked her, glancing at the multiple books and scrolls on our coffee table and floor. I took one of them, about Uzushio history. "And here I thought you knew everything about the village because you were a kunoichi there before it was destroyed."

"A chuunin rarely knows everything about the village, no matter if they are part of an important clan or not honey." she replied. She was burying herself into another scroll and I sighed. I wouldn't get anything else from her I guess.

"I'm going to take a walk."

"Wait, you can't go al..."

"I know!" I cut her, opening the window. "Kakashi-san, stop reading porn and be my friend!"

A puff of smoke behind me made me smirk, and it was a glaring Kakashi-san I found. My mom apologized on my behalf, and he dared accepting it.

"Why did you want to go out anyway?" Kakashi-san asked me once in the crowd of Konoha. I counted how much ryo I had and smiled at myself. Enough to buy me a little treat.

"If I stay inside working on seals absolutely all the time I'll turn insane. Did you know there are like six hundred and twenty-five floorboards in our living-room floor?"

"You're that bored?" he sweat dropped at my wonderful achievement. "I thought you loved fuinjutsu." I hummed to approve and shoved my hands in my pants pockets. We act as if we don't like each other but I used to see him often when I was staying at Kushina's and Minato's, and when I wasn't trying to annoy him, I would ask him tips about ninjutsu.

"I do, but if it's the only thing I do for a long period of time I'll end up hating it and I don't want that. And when Shisui is there, he keeps asking things to mom and I about it, and it ends up in a fight."

He sighed at that. Uzumaki blood, not my fault if we get into fight easily. Even if in that case, it's verbal fight where we snipe at each other on or methods in sealing. I lost most of them to this day, because second life or not, my mom is still my mom.

I dragged Kakashi-san to a takoyaki stand and bought some, my stomach grumbling from apprehension. However, I never got to taste them, because someone bumped into me. Hopefully, Kakashi-san caught my arm before I fell, but the someone ended up on the ground.

"Can't you look where you're going?" a childish voice groaned, probably from the pain. I raised an eyebrow at that and looked down, ready to defend my innocence. But nothing came from my mouth. "First Nii-san doesn't show up at school and now this..."

I'm pretty sure when Shisui asked to keep a low profile, he included staying away from any Uchiha. But no, an eight-year-old Sasuke had to bump into me on his way back from the Academy. I coughed to make him raise his eyes to me, which worked. I gave him a knowing smile, and offered my hand to help him get up.

"You should make sure to be the victim before accusing random people." I told him. He blushed and muttered an apology. However, I wasn't expecting him to stare at my hand as if he didn't know what I was doing. "I'm not going to stay like that forever, you take it or you get up on your own."

He snapped out of his thoughts and took my hand, pulling a little bit too harshly to stand up. He dusted himself and the only thing I could think about is how cute Sasuke was when he was a child. A non-traumatized child! Dang it, I curse the Uchihas and their handsome genes that runs in the clan.

"I'm sorry miss." he apologized, still blushing. Wow, I never would have thought, in a million years, that Uchiha Sasuke was the shy kid with a stranger.

"No harm done, right? But be careful of your surrounding, no matter what your brother has done or hasn't done."

"Okay." he sighed, bowed and started to leave. Was that a sad sigh? Oh oh, a sad Sasuke? I don't want a sad Sasuke when his family is still alive!

"Hey, hold on a minute!" he turned at that and questioned me with big, innocent black eyes. I took his hand and put the takoyakis box in his open palm. "Here, food will make you feel better. And you can say to your brother that because he stood you up, a girl gave free food to you and not him."

He blushed again, harder this time, and nodded like a good boy. "Okay."

"Well, see ya then!" I waved at him and turned to meet up with Kakashi-san, but his voice stopped me.

"Thank you nee-san!"

I glanced back at him, to see him leaving and munching on one of the treat. Never thought Sasuke was the kind the call older people like that. Naruto is, even if when we met he was a teen, but Sasuke? Nah. Especially after I crushed his hand during labor.

"You do know that was the second Uchiha heir, don't you?" Kakashi-san asked me, not raising his eye from his book. I shrugged, images of takoyaki flying away from me in my mind. "Keep a low profile, remember that please."

"Sir, yes sir." I droned. It's not as if I prayed last night for Sasuke to bump into me today anyway. Oh, not to mention Itachi totally could have been here too. Now I'm thinking about it, we've already met at that point, now does he remember it? Only God knows. "Ne, Kakashi-san, is there a place for me to train chakra control?"

"A place huh..." he repeated. He raised his eye to the sky. "Well, the Third Training Ground should do the trick."

I followed him to the training ground. It did sound familiar, as if someone had told me about that place specifically, but I brushed it aside. However, when I saw the three wooden pillars in the center of the ground, I widened my eyes. Of course, Naruto told me about that place, where Team Seven truly was born!

"They don't have any training ground in Kirigakure or what?" Kakashi-san asked me with a roll of his eyes. I kept myself from doing the same.

"They have training ground, but the sun and dry ground are absent, when there is ground." I answered, walking to the river. I focused some chakra in my feet and went on the water. There's nothing better than water walking to improve my control for now, especially because to me, the most important for now is feet seals. I'd rather make seals with any parts of my body than on any surfaces. I formed the dog sign and felt chakra raising in the air around me. "Suiton: Water Shield!"

Water raised in front of me to create a shield big enough to cover my whole body. No matter how Yagura is a hard teacher, controlled or not, he is good at teaching. I hate to admit it, but because I'm a Hyōton user, I can use Suiton and Fūton. And when it comes to Water Style, who's better than the Mizukage himself to teach you?

Then, I moved my hand to form the bird sign.

"Hyōton: Freezing Technique!"

The shield in front of me froze instantly. Oh, I was quick at the time, more than when I died. Well, I had specialized in seals when I left Kiri.

"An Ice Release?"

"Dad is not a full Uzumaki, he is just too lame to...whatever." I muttered, gathering chakra in the palm of my hand.

I bent over and placed my hands on the water. Then I raised my feet up in the air and left my legs fall forward. When my feet touched the water, I stood up and repeated the same process, faster and faster. That's the best way to...

"Is that how you improve your control?" the gray-haired shinobi asked me crouching on the riverbank to scrutinize my movements.

"Yeah, the water flow and speed are forcing me to change the place and amount of chakra I need to stay on the water. And that can be a good warm-up for taijutsu." I explained, keeping my focus as much as I could.

He made some kind of approving sound before going to sit against a tree, book in hand. No matter how old he is, he will always read that stuff huh...

After a while, I stopped in the middle of my acrobatics after I had heard the faint sound of someone running. Running fast and toward here. I turned my head and squinted to try to catch a glimpse of anything. And I succeeded, because I caught a glimpse of something green.

"KAKASHI MY ETERNAL RIVAL, THERE YOU ARE!" a male voice yelled. I admit, it surprised me. As a result, I lost my focus and fell in the river. I swam to the surface quickly and went to the ground, shivering. "It's time for another of our battles!"

"Gai, I'm busy right now," Kakashi-san replied, not even sparring him a glance, "and you lost your focus Akane."

"I know, I know." I mumbled, slowly standing up. Shit, I'm freezing now, because that guy has never been able to keep it down!

"Oh, and who might this lady be Kakashi? Isn't she too young for you?"

Ignore it Akane, ignore it, just pretend he doesn't exist and everything will be fine.

"She is my mission, nothing else." the ANBU retorted icily. He got up and walked to me. "If you stay like this you'll catch a cold."

"I know th..."

"Why do I have the feeling I already have seen you?"

I jumped back because of how close and fast Gai got in front of me, two fingers holding his chin. I deadpanned at him and his stare on my face, my hand clenching in a fist. But the idea of punching him, and how I would embarrass myself by doing so, left me as fast as it came because of a book on my head.

"See you another time Gai, we're leaving."

"Ha but Kakashi, I ran all the way here after my report and...wait!" he cried after us whereas we were leaving.

"Eternal rival?" I questioned him in a low tone.

"No comment."

* * *

"I don't care." Sasuke proclaimed with a smug look. His brother simply raised an eyebrow at him, Shisui laughing in the background. "I had free takoyakis because you weren't there nii-san, and by a pretty girl!"

"A...girl?" Itachi repeated wit disbelief. He shot a quick glare to his loud cousin behind him and crouched in front of his baby brother. "I thought you weren't interested in girls Sasuke?"

"Girls my age are annoying nii-san, this one is older! But I've never seen her in the village before..."

That statement stopped Shisui from laughing. Of course, Itachi noticed that and made a mental note to himself that Shisui was indeed hiding something from him. But for now, he had to make sure Sasuke understand not to go after older girls until he was an adult. He wasn't going to have his first crush on a stranger, right?

"What does she look like Sasuke?"

"Hum? She's your age I think, and your height. Brown eyes and she has straight long hair, brown and red hair. She was wearing blue pants with a black tank top and black sandals and..." the young boy described her with enthusiasm.

"She wasn't wearing any forehead protector?" his brother interrupted him.

Sasuke mused for a couple of seconds and shook his head. "I didn't see any."

"It will be hard to find her and thank her then..." Itachi mused. He turned to his best friend, who obviously was trying to be forgotten by the two. "Shisui, you won't mind helping us, right?"

"Of...course not?" the latter retorted awkwardly and forced a smile under Itachi's sharp gaze.

* * *

I kicked into a nearby rock. Tomorrow is the night and the only moment I was allowed to go outside was for training with Kakashi-san. And Gai-san when he would find us. One more rock-paper-scissors game while I'm practicing feet seals and I'm killing somebody. Shisui had forbidden me from going out because Sasuke did brag about me to his brother and now Itachi is curious. I should have known he would be interested in meeting someone who met his brother but come on, that quickly!? Hopefully, Shisui managed to keep them off my back.

But, on the bright side, I can make seals with my feet now. I even had the joy to think Kakash-san was impressed by my achievement because he smiled! At least I think he did, because I couldn't see with his mask, but his eye softened briefly before he closed it and actually congratulated me. It reminded of the relationship I had with him before I died, the one where we became pretty close because he wasn't the stuck-up ass he was younger.

But back to the current situation. As usual, I'm hanging out with Kakashi-san on the Third Training Ground. For today, I thought I would practice water jutsu and chakra control. Again, I know, but that's so tricky! When you think you got it, you realize there's the next level. But this time, I don't have the surprise. And I'm determined to beat my old level of control.

I just need to reach it first to beat it.

"Kakashi-san?" I called him when he closed his book at look to some trees. I frowned and went back on the ground, my five senses fully aware. If Kakashi-san hadn't changed his behavior, I wouldn't have realized it, but...we're surrounded. It's so faint I can barely feel their presence.

"Stay here." he ordered me curtly. He jumped on a branch and disappeared from view.

I forced my breathing to remain calm and cursed the fact that I'm a hidden civilian here, so I don't have any weapon except...

I turned my head brusquely to my right and fixed the bush. Someone is there and is watching me. However, they didn't even think about hiding their presence. I quickly took a rock at my feet and threw it in the bush, just for a childish voice to reach my ears. I ran to it and widened my eyes when I recognized Sasuke.

"What are you doing here Sasuke!?" I asked sharply, getting on his feet so fast he stumbled. Shit, we're surrounded by hostile presences and I'm getting an eight-year-old to protect.

"I've been trying to find you since the last time nee-san, so when I saw you today I followed you! And you didn't even notice it!" he told me brightly, a smug look on his face. I didn't notice because I was trying to see if Jiraya-sama's book are as perverted as their reputation said!

"Why do you call me nee-san by the way?"

"Because you're older and nice," he explained shyly, as if I was scolding him "I shouldn't?" Gosh, he was a happy kid in need of attention before the massacre. I gave him some and here's the result I guess.

"No, don't worry about it, I just wanted to know." I kneeled down in front of him and grasped his shoulders tightly to whisper. "Stay close to me and keep your guards up. Be ready to run when I tell you to."

He widened his eyes at my words and nodded hesitantly. I stood up and turned my back to the child, my feet spread enough to make an offensive move or to defend. The field is at my advantage, I have water near me and my Suiton abilities are far better than my Fūton abilities, or even if I hate to admit it, Hyōton abilities.

" _The scariest thing, once tamed, will be your best allies Uzumaki, never forget that about water or I'll make sure you don't bring shame to the village."_ Yagura told me once when I panicked because there was no ground in sight during training. He was right, water is one of the scariest and dangerous thing in my opinion, but once you understand how it works...you feel better. "Show yourself!" I yelled suddenly, startling Sasuke behind me who moved closer.

A man appeared in a whirl of leaves. I'd say he's around my age, but the white and red mask on his face does not let me know more about him. But except for his mask, he doesn't wear the ANBU uniform. Hmph, Danzo discovered I was in the village or does he want Sasuke?

"Sasaki Akane, you are to follow me to Danzo-sama, no matter what." he informed me, emotionless. So it's me huh...the old man is really power hungry. Tch, disgusting.

"I'm sure you know I won't go without a fight, especially if that douche bag is the demanding one." I taunted him, savoring the twitching in his arm. He took the short sword on his back.

"Very well."

I pushed Sasuke back with a light kick in his stomach and quickly formed signs for my water shield. It raised just in time to repulse the boy, and I ran to him. I threw a punch at his face, which he blocked easily with his blade, and my leg met his. Pain went through my leg because of the impact and I stumbled back. I got up immediately and went to the river while making signs.

"Suiton: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!" as I said it, a huge water dragon raised in front of me and rushed to the enemy. He barely avoided it whereas a few trees are destroyed. If I make enough sound, Kakashi-san may hear it. I shot a look at Sasuke, who climbed in a tree and is just watching. But I can see, even from there, that his legs are shaking.

"Is that all? Raiton: Thunder!"

Many sparks of lightning flew towards me. Because I used a water jutsu and I'm still on water means I'm stupid enough to let myself being electrocuted? I gathered chakra in feet and jumped in the air, the tiger sign already made.

"Fūton: High Winds Technique!" I yelled as as a very violent wind passed on both sides of me. Those sparks of electricity vanished, and as I started to fall back, I looked at Sasuke once again. It would be okay if I was alone to fully fight back until backup showed up, but I have a kid with me. Shit, protecting others is not the main priority in Kirigakure, that wasn't the most important in my training or missions.

Fuck, the best I can do is take Sasuke and run to the village. But can I find my way back with the mist if I create it?

"Kid," said a voice in my ear, "Kakashi sent me, you must go back to the village." I glanced at my shoulder, where Pakkun was standing, his eyes on the Root member charging at us.

Sasuke was high enough, so after another series of hand seals, I shouted "Suiton: Great Waterfall Technique!" I landed on a tree branch as violent water wrecked the training ground. As the enemy disappeared from my sight, I went to Sasuke and made him climb onto my back, Pakkun trading my shoulder for his head. "You can lead the way with mist?"

"Sure." the ninken replied, and after the Ox, the Snake and the Ram, mist started engulfing the area.

"Hiding in Mist Technique." I mumbled before taking off.

I jumped from tree to tree and my heart wouldn't stop pounding wildly in my chest. I can't risk Sasuke's life. Which is why, even though this technique reduces my field of vision, the mist being created by my chakra allows me to detect to others.

A drop of sweat ran down my hairline when two other presences appeared. With Sasuke on my back, I'm not as fast as I could be.

"Nee-san, what do they want from you?" Sasuke asked with a quivering voice he failed to control properly. He must be terrified, at that point of his life he probably has never witnessed that.

"I don't know." The lie came smoothly out of my mouth. To be fair, I'm not a hundred percent sure what he would do with my abilities, and I'm sure he doesn't know about my ice kekkai genkai. "Pakkun, are they..."

"I don't know their smell." The dog interrupted me with seriousness. "You better hurry girl, it seems like they can see us even with that mist!"

"Shit." I cursed loudly. My eyes widened for a fraction of second when the sound of an approaching weapon reached my ears and I threw Sasuke down. I caught the weapon and threw it back to counter the other kunai and jumped to catch Sasuke before he touched the ground.

"Tell me next time you do this!" the kid hissed at me, making me chuckle lightly.

I clenched my fist when the presences approached us even more. I bite my lips. I think letting Sasuke with me would endanger him too much, Pakkun should be enough to lead him to the village. But he's a witness and splitting up would also put him in danger.

Shit, shit, what should we do!?

I raised my arm in front of my face and winced as I'm thrown in the grass. I tried to get up but someone crushed my face into the earth, almost choking me in the process. Hopefully, I'm smart so I grabbed Sasuke by his shirt and pushed him as strongly as I could when my water clone disappeared. A small smile came to my face, hoping Sasuke would make it, when someone hit the back of my neck. My body fell harshly on the ground as I was losing consciousness.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading ! Thank to star3 for the review!**


	5. Konoha Arc: Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own any OCs in this, the rest is Masashi Kishimoto.**

* * *

"Get up, we're just starting!" Yagura-sama spat at me, his arms crossed over his chest. Starting? I was already gasping for air! "How do you expect to become a chuunin next week with that pathetic level Uzumaki!?"

"I don't want to be a ninja! I've been a genin for six months and in the village for a year!" I yelled. I widened my eyes and covered my mouth with my hand when I realized what I've just done. Rule number one is to never, never talk back to Yagura-sama. No matter if he looks like a kid or not.

"Are you defying my orders?" he asked me calmly. But his eyes were dark, so dark and the cold fury in them made me shiver from head to toe.

"I'm...I'm sorry Yagura-sama..." I stuttered, frightened by the dark chakra he was emanating.

Oxygen left my lungs as a huge pain engulfed my torso. My mind didn't even register my back crashing into the wall or the blood dripping from the corner of my mouth. The only thing I knew was that I was gasping for air and the hand around my neck would kill me soon. Tears started to pour from my eyes and I started scratching his arm with my hands. Blood appeared quickly under my nails.

"Any person born in Kirigakure is the property of Kirigakure," he stated in an icy tone, "blame your pitiful parents, but you and your potential are _my_ properties so stop complaining like a brat and wake up!"

Wake...up?

"Wake up nee-san!" he continued, tightening his grip on me.

"Nee-san?"

Am I...dreaming? The blurry sight of Yagura-sama started to fade away to be replace by black. Black...eyes?

"Nee-san!" The voice changed and I'm pretty sure someone was shaking me.

I opened my eyes and blinked a few times for my eyes to get used to the darkness around. I weakly grabbed one of the hands shaking me and it stopped. I quickly inspected Sasuke with my eyes and internally sighed from relief. He didn't seem to be hurt. I rolled on my side and pushed on my hands to sit up. Or I tried, but my upper body was blocked by some very thick fabric or something else but in any case, I couldn't use my arms and hands.

"Did they try to do something to you?"

"No, they just knocked me out and I woke up here. Where are we?" he asked me in a strangled voice, probably by fear. I swept the area and ground my teeth because I almost couldn't see a thing. But we were in a cell with stone walls and a metal door with a single window. "Are they going to kill us?"

"I don't think so. What happened to the dog?" I hope they didn't get Pakkun, otherwise our chances to get some help would be too thin.

"I told him to run away before they got me. It's a summon, right? So his master should help us."

I ruffled his hair with a wry smile. "Yep, nice one Sasuke. Did they restrain you?"

"No." Good.

I closed my eyes and let my chakra flow outside my body. Not much, but enough to check any possible seals they could have put. I found none, which made me frown. Were they in a hurry when they threw us in there? Or the lack of informations about my capacities is that big? Using my feet, I turned around so that I was facing the wall. I slammed my foot on it and let chakra slipped away. Black characters surrounded now my foot, that I put back on the cold stoned floor. Now I have to...focus and...

"Woah!" Sasuke exclaimed when the letters glowed in a bright blue. A black katana grip appeared in the center of the seal.

"Sasuke take it!" I hissed at the kid, startling him in the process, when the blade started to be seen. He complied immediately and pulled on the weapon, stumbling back in the process when it came out suddenly. A glance between the blade and what's hindering me and he grasped what I wanted him to do. So I ended up rubbing my wrists once I was free. "Have you heard anything when I was passed out?"

"Not really," he replied while I was trying to find a way out. I'd rather not use the door. "But I think no one is watching because I heard some foot steps leaving very fast and...yeah, they said something about someone being attacked."

"I see, do you have any idea how long we've been here?" I took the sword from his slightly shaking hands. He's good at hiding his fear. He's good at knowing at such a young age that right now it would be an hindrance to show fear. Anyway, he shook his head.

I tsk-ed in annoyance. Who knew what was happening outside while we were trapped. I walked to the door and inspected the gap between it and the wall. It would give me a hard time, but I probably could be able to maintain wind chakra in my blade to cut the lock if the gap is big enough. Which it was!

"Yosh, maybe it's my lucky day after all," I whispered to myself when I placed the tip of my katana in the gap. I lowered it slowly until it rested on something. I pushed it a little bit more and inhaled deeply, gathering chakra and slowly changing it to wind. Once I felt it was enough, I sliced down, right through the lock. "Dang it, next time someone tells me he wants to train me with wind nature chakra I accept!" I told myself while relaxing my shoulders a little bit. I tightened my hold on my weapon and carefully opened th door. I cast a quick glance around, to see no one. "Sasuke, we're going now and stay close to me unless I tell you otherwise."

He understood most of the situation and that I could fight, he's not stupid and he should follow my instructions. We left the first room with catlike stealth, all my senses in alarm, and I tried to sense anyone. Weird thing is I didn't find any.

Geez, what's going on outside!?

I looked down when I feel someone tugging on my pants. Sasuke was rubbing his eyes and I frowned, kneeling in front of him immediately. I forced him to stop and stared at his face. I couldn't spot any differences.

"I can feel them throbbing since I woke up but it started when we were attacked." he confessed, squinting as if he couldn't see very far. I nodded at that and stood up, my fist firmly clenched on my weapon.

As we carefully made our way through the place, I came to some conclusions. I don't think we are in Roots main HQ because there would be other people here. Maybe a secret hideout for uncooperative people. From the kunais Sasuke managed to gather, there were others here and they left rather abruptly.

"Nee-san..."

"What?"

"Don't you hear something...or someone?"

I mused over it and listened carefully. I was ready to dismiss his words when I heard one pretty familiar and cursed. Naruto is the only one saying 'dattebayo', I'm sure of it, but why would he be here!? Why would have Danzo taken him as well!?

I slided on the floor to turn when the voice became clearer and kicked the door. One of the last Root member remaining just had the time to get up he was knocked out against the wall because of my Fūton. I opened the door to be met by wide blue eyes.

"I'll beat you dattebayo!" he screamed, launching himself at me with a clenched fist.

I caught him with no effort, stopped his leg too and tackled him to the floor. "That's how you thank people who came to save your ass?"

"Sav..."

"Naruto?"

"Sasuke!?"

I told them to be quiet and went to the Root. I executed a series of hand seals and placed my hand on their abdomen.

"Fuijutsu: Immobility Seal!" I said and black lines appeared from under his collar. A faint grunt of pain came from them. I sweat dropped at myself, at least I didn't kill them with my last attack so he should be grateful.

"Ne, where are we?" Naruto asked Sasuke when I scanned this room. It's...more humid than where we were. I went to Naruto's cell and inspected it.

"How would I know that idiot!?" I heard Sasuke reply harshly while I was grazing the wall with my finger. Humid. A look to the ceiling confirmed my thoughts. Even if it's dark, I can see some wet spot.

We're underground and it's raining. But with the wall too, it means we're close to the exit. "Stop fighting and follow me!"

"What!?" Naruto exclaimed when Sasuke ran after me. "Hey wait for me!"

I sped up when the smell of rain met my nose. Light soon came to view and we were outside. The sky was covered by dark clouds and rain poured heavily in the night. The lights being just from the torches at the entrance, we were confronted to a dark and not so reassuring forest. I looked around and pushed the children in a certain direction, opposite to the persons approaching. I don't know if they're enemies or friends, but I won't take the risk.

"People are coming, go!"

They immediately started running, me behind them. If only I knew what they learned at school at this point I could try to use it but I'm alone, me, a jounin who were supposed to become an ANBU when I clearly don't have the level or the motivation, against an unknown number of people who are in training to become ANBU. The one I had wasn't a really trained one, but those who captured us earlier were and I couldn't do anything. I don't have any paper seals on me, but rain can be an advantage.

I widened my eyes when I felt someone close. Too close. I bite my thumb with the intent to summon Gaku but I blinked once, then twice, and fought the urge to go in a corner and pity my own stupidity.

You can't summon dummy, you signed when you were fifteen! You don't have any summons right now!

"Down!" I yelled, tackling the two in the wet grass. Shurikens whistled above us and I felt the boys tensed. Their whole bodies tensed. "Go and hide in those bushes and shut up!" I grumbled through my teeth as another attack was coming. "Suiton: Water Shield!"

I winced at the shock wave it made. But Sasuke and Naruto went into hiding, so that's good.

"So what's your thing to find us huh? You're the one who found us in the mist too, so what? Sense of smell, Byakugan, another secret jutsu I'm not aware of?"

He attacked instead of answering, but it was enough. I've seen enough Hyuuga fighting in my past life to recognize the Gentle Fist. I was dodging and blocking with my katana when kunais flew to him. He deflected them easily and made a move to attack where the boys were. Concentrating chakra in my feet, I ran in front of him and threw my leg in the air to kick him.

I blinked slowly and looked at my leg, where two of his fingers are. Pain shot through my limb as blood spurted from my mouth. As he went for another of my tenkentsu, I thrust my katana in the earth, leaned on it with my valid leg and jumped back to fall onto my stomach. Geez, it hurts so bad!

"Nee-chan!" Naruto said with wide eyes. I widened mine when they met Sasuke's. Sasuke's eyes which glowed in the dark. They were glowing a bright red. The thing with his eyes...was the Sharingan? At eight years old?

"Sasuke...fire..." he complied and started hand seals when I moved aside. So he knows that jutsu, good...

"Katon: Great Fireball Technique!" As Sasuke spat fire, I formed my own seals to cast my wind jutsu, strengthening the fire. It engulfed the whole area in front of us and I felt sweat on my skin because of the heat, but I couldn't care less.

"Go back to the village!"

"But..." Naruto started to argue but a glare from me shut him up. Sasuke seemed unsure himself but nodded anyway, grabbing Naruto's sleeve to make him move.

I got up as I could, the risk of falling pretty important as the single move was making me wince in pain. The Hyuuga was slightly burned, especially his mask.

"I'm going to kill you." he stated icily, running to me.

Come, come, I still have enough chakra for my seal. The one I practiced for Danzo, but it should work with the Byakugan. Hopefully, it's still raining heavily. Maybe I can...

I dodged once again and after several hand seals said. "Hyōton: Freezing Technique!"

The water on him started freezing quickly. So what did he do? Expelled chakra from his body. This lapse of attention on me enough to take that mask off and grab his face.

"Fuinjutsu: Pupil Seal!"

The famous whirl so common to the Uzumakis appeared on his face and he jumped back, his hands on his eyes. But as expected, this technique, to block a dojutsu, took almost all the rest of my chakra. I fell on my knees and watched the guy get his composure back. Now, even if he still could fight, he wouldn't find the boys.

They better get back to the village.

He attacked, the same one as the first time, where he throws chakra at me or something like that. I was exhausted, I could watch only. Watch it coming at me and wood blocking it out of sudden.

Wait, wood?

"You did a good job, Akane." a male voice said behind me when a hand landed on my head.

"Kakashi-san?" I asked quietly as I threw my head back to see his dog mask.

He nodded and looked the other. "Tenzo, I take care of him, his Byakugan has been sealed. Protect her."

"Understood." The Tenzo guy said as he scooped me up to get to safety. Tenzo? But...wasn't that Mokuton? Yamato isn't supposed to be the only one to...argh, too complicated for my tired brain.

"Naruto...Sasuke..." I mumbled weakly.

"Don't worry, Pakkun and Itachi are taking care of it."

Itachi...that's okay then...everything is going to be okay...

I faintly heard Tenzo telling me to stay awake while I let my eyes closing just for a second. But...it's so hard to open them... now...

* * *

"Sasuke, what are we going to do if..."

"Shut up dobe!" Sasuke snapped at him, kunai shaking in his hand. How...why did the situation turn that bad? How long would she last? How were they going to fight back if others got to them? Were they going to die? And why was he seeing things differently?

"Sasuke!" Naruto's voice got him out of his thoughts as he bumped into someone. Someone with a mask. He jumped back and held his kunai firmly in front of him, Naruto's shaking body sitting on the ground.

"It's okay Sasuke." the ninja in front of them said calmly. He bent down on one kneel and took his mask off. "It's over now."

"Nii-san!" the raven exclaimed, dropping his weapon to run to his brother. Said brother caught him with ease, keeping him close to his body. Itachi shot a glance at the other boy. Just like for Sasuke, except dirt one their clothes and exposed skin, they were fine and he felt relief washed over him.

"It's over now, my senpais went to help your friend."

"They're coming," Pakkun added next to Naruto. "We should go to the hospital."

Itachi nodded and created a clone who lifted the blond. Naruto squeaked and grasped tightly onto the clone's shirt when they started to move.

He didn't have the details, but he felt like he had a huge debt to that girl now, for putting her life on the line for the sake of his brother. As they made their way to the hospital, Itachi's thoughts drifted to his father. Discovering him and the Hokage used him behind his back to get to Danzo was surprising, but what was even more was how Shisui hid it from him. But he had a feeling for a while. Since he came back from his mission near the Land of Water two months prior, Shisui had been weird around him. Itachi trusted him, so if he was hiding something he must have had a good reason.

When they arrived at the hospital, he followed the two children in a room where they were examined. And if he knew that people were cautious around the Uchihas, that doctor was scared of the blond boy. Itachi held a sigh back. It was unfair of the villagers to discriminate Naruto, and it was even more unfair to think he knew nothing about Kushina and Minato. He never really thought about the Kyubi holder before, but knew his mother would occasionally give things to the Hokage for him to give them to Naruto. The child was his mother's late best friend's son after all.

"Please this way!" he heard a woman say in the hallway.

He opened the door and peeked at Kakashi and Tenzo following a nurse. The Uchiha widened his eyes when he spotted the face of the girl on the Hatake's back, partially covered by auburn locks. 'Brown red' his brother said because he did not know the exact word, but Itachi knew the girl and understood why Shisui was acting weirdly since his mission. A childish voice calling him a cute girl in the back of his mind reminded him of the girl he met when he was five, and that he would observe from afar to understand her way of thinking and why Shisui seemed so fond of her. Now, he knew it was basically stalking and that his pretext was good at the beginning only, not nine months after she arrived to Konoha.

But why did Akane come back?

"Nii-san?" he looked down at his brother, who was putting an hospital shirt on. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing Sasuke."

He glanced at the silent blond boy on the bed. Could he be reason Akane was back? Weren't they...related?

* * *

 **Thanks for reading !**


	6. Konoha Arc: Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I own any OCs in this, the rest is Masashi Kishimoto.**

* * *

" _What are you doing?"_

 _I stopped in my steps and glanced at Itachi, who seemed to have finished his nap and was now looking at me through his dark lashes. But his eyes kept looking up and down my body suspiciously. I frowned slightly at him. I swear, I will never understand what goes through his mind._

" _I need to buy things." I replied and shrugged. He sat up in the couch, still staring at me. Or more like staring at my outfit. "What, what's wrong with my clothes?" I looked down. Shorts and a tank top that showed my belly button because it's hot outside._

" _You can't go out dressed like that." he stated as if it was the most logical thing in the world._

" _I wear what I w..."_

" _Too much skin is exposed." he told me blandly, his eyes not leaving my stomach. My right eye twitched and before I could voice out my disagreement, his deep voice rang in the room once again. "Akane."_

 _I refused to look at him when I moved to stand in front of him when he asked me to. But I could only blushed when he grabbed my hips and put his lips on the skin of my stomach. I stuttered his name and grabbed onto his shoulders to keep me standing. Itachi simply sucked on my skin, his thumbs gently rubbing the skin of my hips above my shorts._

" _Itachi..." I whispered tenderly, my hands in his hair. He slowly released the spot he was sucking on and raised his head to me. I melted when I met the possessive glint in his eyes._

" _You're only mine to see." he murmured so lowly I almost didn't catch it. My eyes went wide at this. "Allow me this one thing please."_

 _I sighed softly and gently pushed him. He grudgingly let go of me, probably thinking I was rejecting him, hence the surprised expression on his face when I straddled him. I still couldn't believe he let his guard down around me and showed me he was still human after all. I gave him a light kiss on the lips and placed my face in the crook of his neck._

" _I thought I made that clear when I told you you were my friend despite what you did and that ugly black and red coat you wear. It didn't change when we became lover." I whispered again softly. "You're a hell lot of work, I don't have the time or energy for another guy. I was even planning on buying medicine for you before you stopped me, you're running low on them."_

 _No reply came. Just his arms around my body, pressing me against his chest._

 _But that was enough._

 _More than enough._

* * *

Bright.

Too. Damn. Bright!

I squeezed my eyes right after I opened them because of the light. I blinked a few times and once the pain the bright light brought to my eyes was gone, took a look at my surroundings. White walls, white ceiling, white everything in that room. So...I was in the hospital? I briefly glanced at my side and saw a drip. That would explain the numbness in my left arm then.

"Finally awake?"

I jumped a little, startled by the voice of the Sandaime. I moved my eyes to him and met a warm smile and the smell of tobacco. I blinked blankly when I noticed the cast on his left arm and his wheelchair. Hopefully he was smoking his pipe by the open window but still...

"You've had a tough night too I presume, Hokage-sama?" I asked him tiredly, making myself more comfortable in my bed.

"I'm too old for such things." he commented with a chuckle and I let a smile appeared on my face. "Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto are grateful for Sasuke-kun. You did well against an experienced ANBU."

"I wasn't expecting a Hyuuga though, the Gentle Fist hurt like hell. But, if you're here I'm guessing that Danzo..."

"It was a hard fight, but with the help of all the Head Clans and your mother, I made sure he wouldn't be a problem anymore. And with what his autopsy revealed, Homura and Koharu cannot say anything against what happened."

"My mother?" I repeated, completely stunned.

"Danzo had tried to recruit you long ago and recently kidnapped you along with Naruto to lobby you. It made her pretty angry, I even thought I had Kushina in front of me for a minute." He laughed at the last part and I felt my cheeks blushing from embarrassment for a brief moment, before picking up on the mention of Naruto.

"So the Fox had nothing to do with him being taking by them?"

"He might have had an idea to bring it at some point to convince you to join, but we confronted him before he could do anything to him."

"And they're fine? Naruto and Sasuke?"

"Shocked but physically they're perfectively fine." he reassured me and moved back, rolling to the door. He stopped in front of it and turned his head to look at me. "As the Hokage, I will be forever grateful for the tragedy you told us about. You saved many lives."

"Have I?"

I glanced outside. It's a sunny day with a few clouds I'm sure Shikamaru is watching from somewhere.

"I wanted to save the lives of people I cared about. But even if they had died, everything had turned out good in the end. What if I just doomed us all in the end?"

"Then we'll fight for our future."

I looked up at him. His eyes...they're the same Minato-oji-chan would have once he was Yondaime. The eyes of a leader.

"It would be silly to think everything would turn out like it had for you. However, we have precious informations in our hands. Maybe everything turned out good before, so we will make it turn even better. We are shinobis, we are ready to die for what we believe in." he said in a powerful, yet gentle voice.

I widened my eyes. That's what Aunty Kushina would tell me sometimes, when I was asking why Minato-oji-chan was so ready to protect a whole village, people he didn't know on a personal level included, even if it meant his death.

"Thank you Sandaime-sama." I whispered, closing my eyes.

"Minato wouldn't stop saying you would be better than him one day and you would help his son make great things one day. Maybe this is what this second chance that has been given to you was for."

Someone knocked on the door. They opened it when I told them to and I recognized Sasuke's voice greeting the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama, good morning." said another voice, a woman this time.

"Good morning Mikoto, Sasuke-kun. If you do not mind, I will go back to my room before the nurse scolds me. Have a good day."

They bowed to him as he left my room, and Mikoto-san closed the door behind him.

"You could have told me you knew me when I was a baby, nee-san." Sasuke scolded me with an adorable pout on his face. Mikoto put some flowers in a vase on my nightstand and I smiled teasingly at the child. "And that you were friend with Shisui-san and nii-san!"

"I wouldn't call myself a friend of Itachi Sasuke...It's been a while Mikoto-san."

"It has been, hasn't it?" she replied with, I noted, tired smile. But from my memories, she hadn't changed that much. "You're almost a grown woman."

If you only knew Mikoto-san...

"And thank you for protecting Sasuke like you did Akane-chan, him and Naruto-kun explained everything."

"I did what I could...if Sasuke hadn't used his fire jutsu, things could have turned out very badly." I admitted, chuckling lightly at Sasuke's smug smile. "Thanks for the flowers by the way."

"You're welcome. When we came earlier, the ones in the vase were faded so..."

"Wh...how long has it been?"

"You've been sleeping for a week nee-san." Sasuke informed me, getting on the bed to sit next to me. "I came with nii-san and Shisui-san a few times but you were sleeping. Shisui-san would complain and nii-san would tell him you needed to rest to recover your chakra and your leg injury."

My...sounds like something bound to happen with these two.

"Sometimes I wonder in what kind of situation Shisui-kun would end up without Itachi." Mikoto-san sighed but with some fondness in her voice.

"The worst kind." I giggled with her at my comment, Sasuke staring at the exchange with a bored expression. Probably wondering about those strange creatures that we, women, are.

But the mood broke the moment some ruckus could be heard outside my room. I sat up with raised eyebrows at the loud voices outside. I recognized Naruto's quickly.

"They're refusing to let him in again Mother?" Sasuke asked his mom.

Mikoto-san stood up abruptly, a frown on her face and fists clenched. Oh oh, is that a pissed off Mikoto Uchiha? Pissed off women are scary, pissed of Uchihas are scary, so the mix of the two? I'm not sure I really want to see it. So basically, when a calm but terrifying smile appeared on her face and she unclenched her fists to walk to the door, I started to squeeze the life out of Sasuke. I released him a little when his face turned blue but, the thing is...we looked at each other.

"Sasuke...your mom..."

"I've never seen her like that." he told me in a toneless voice.

* * *

"I just want to see someone dattebayo!" Naruto yelled, glaring daggers at the doctor in front of him. He tightened his hold on the flowers he bought and looked down. "I just want to say thank you to nee-chan..."

"I don't care, that patient needs to rest and not see someone like you!" the doctor roared, his face red with anger. He raised his hand and Naruto squeezed his eyes shut. But the blow never came. "Wha..."

"The last time I checked, Konoha wasn't the kind of place where the caregivers are the one to hurt innocent children." a woman said. Naruto opened his eyes and gaped at the sight in front of him, like everyone in the hall. The woman, with brown hair and light gray eyes, was holding the doctor's wrist in a death grip from the look on his face.

"He's hardly inn..."

"It sounds like you have forgotten the Sandaime is resting here too, Fujioka-san." A calm, yet threatening voice spoke from the stairs.

"U...Uchiha-sama..."

"From the look of it, Naruto-kun is here to visit the girl who I happened to also visit, and who is awake. Plus, that lovely woman restraining you is the mother of said girl, so it's okay for the both of them to come, isn't it?"

"Of...of course." the frightened man said.

Naruto was looking between the two women. The second one, the one he called 'Uchiha-sama' looked a kinda like Sasuke...Suddenly, he pointed his finger to her, his eyes wide.

"You...you're Sasuke's mother, right !?" he exclaimed loudly, which drew that Fujioka's attention. He directed a fuming glare at him, but the voice of the Uchiha matriarch stopped him before.

"I am, and you're Naruto-kun, you're in Sasuke's class, aren't you?" she asked him with a warm smile.

He blushed and nodded shyly, hiding instinctively behind the other woman's legs. She had let Fujioka go and was now kneeling. To pick up his flowers. But...if she was the mother's girl...then would she hate him because her daughter was in the hospital? But she had helped him too, hadn't she?

"Akane will be happy to receive such pretty flowers! Now let's give them to her, shall we?" she told him with a wink at him. She stood up and grabbed Naruto's hand, walking to the raven haired woman. As they went up the stairs, he silently listened to their conversations. "Thanks Mikoto-san, I could have say the wrong things back there hehe..."

"And I thought your temper was better than hers...but this was nothing, Akane-chan protected Sasuke too, the least I can do is stop any unnecessary ruckus here, right?" she replied with a knowing smile.

"Ne..." he muttered, pulling on the hand holding his when they stopped in front of a door. She looked down at him with a raised eyebrow. "Do...do you hate me because nee-chan is here?"

"Why would I? You're not the one who hurt her, you're the one she took the risk to protect even if it meant she would be hurt. I'm proud of her and happy you're okay, Naruto-kun." she said with a motherly smile, tenderly ruffling his hair. He snorted, fighting the tears building up in his eyes. He rubbed them to try to get ride of the tears.

"Hmph, why are you crying dobe?"

"Shut up teme!" Naruto retorted, glaring at the boy in front of him. He realized they walked in the room and that Sasuke was sitting next to Akane, who was looking at him with relief. "I'm not crying!"

"Then why are there tears on..."

"Sasuke!" his mother cut him sharply.

Akane chuckled at them and ruffled Sasuke's hair, which made the younger one try to shoo her hand away, only to fail. Naruto laughed at that.

"Honey, Naruto had something for you."

"Ha?" came her reply as the brown-haired woman gave his flowers back and pushed him forward.

* * *

I watched Naruto shifting from one foot to another and then he presented me a bunch of flowers. I accepted them and ruffled his hair too, making him blush in embarrassment.

"They're beautiful Naruto, thank you."

"Mines were bet..." Sasuke couldn't finish his sentence because I was pinching his cheek.

"Thank you for saving me nee-chan!" he thanked me loudly and I smiled sadly at him. With how his eyes were grateful, it's not hard to guess he never experienced the help of someone before.

"That's nothing, you were in there because of me aft..." I covered my mouth too late, and Naruto didn't miss my words. Sasuke either. I shot a panic look at my mom and she sighed.

"Well, that's not how I was planning on telling him but...Mikoto-san, would you mind give us a minutes?"

Mikoto-san shook her head and took Sasuke with her, who was giving us all a curious glance. But once alone, Naruto jumped onto my bed, eyes wide open.

"What do you mean it was your fault!?"

"Naruto," my mother called him, lifting him to put him back on the floor. "What Akane meant, is that they would have used you to make her do what they wanted because she wouldn't have risked your life. You're important to her, to us."

"Im...important?" He repeated, dumbfounded.

"Yes," she confirmed. She kneeled in front of him and placed her hands on his shoulders. "I talked to the Sandaime, and even though I can't tell you anything, I'll let you know the essential. You know nothing about your parents, right?"

Even if he had his back to me, his slumped shoulders were enough to tell me it was painful to think about it.

"I can't tell you who they were until you are much older, but I can tell you this. When she was a child your mom left her village to come to Konohagakure. Behind her, she left her family and an entire clan."

"A clan!?" he cried out and raised his head.

"Yes, but that's a long story so it will be for another time. What you need to know is that your mother's father and my father were brothers. Therefore, we were cousins."

It caused his whole body to twitch. Naruto may be oblivious, dense at time...okay, most of the time, but he knew the basis of a family tree, right? Argh, actually I had no idea. But a sobs could be heard in the room.

"So...so you're...you're...family? Then...Then why didn't you come earlier!? Why did I have to be alone!? They're all mean to me and...and..." he weeped with anger. I ignored the faint numbness of my body and, taking advantage of not being the center of attention, turned in my bed to put my feet on the cold, _very_ cold floor.

"Because it was dangerous for my daughter. You've witnessed it a week ago. The man behind it tried to recruit Akane when she was younger than you, I couldn't take the risk to lose another child."

"MOM!" I yelled to stop her from saying too much. I calmed myself when they both turned to me and I stood up up on shaking legs. "Don't talk about it, we said we would never talk about it! Especially not to a child, he's too young to know that!"

I fell on my knees in front of a scared Naruto, because of my sudden outburst, and a teary mother. But I don't care. This thing...this _event_ cannot be talked about. It never should be spoken about, ever. I don't want to remember it, I don't want to remember _him_ , I don't want to remember the sight of my godfather, wounded and covered in blood, but not just his. I don't want to remember the tears mom shed, I don't want to remember Kushina embracing her as tightly as it could as if it would make the pain disappear. I don't want to remember how Kakashi-san was bloody but I wouldn't let go of him.

I don't want to remember the reason why I went to Konoha all those years ago!

"Nee-chan?" the quiet voice of Naruto snapped me out of my thoughts, and I realized he was holding my hand and I was on the verge of tears. Again. I threw my arms around him and brought him closer to me. And I didn't give a fuck about the pain in my arm because of the drip.

"I...I'm sorry Naruto, we're sorry, but just know that...that we love, that we care about you and that we will protect you. I'll protect you...please forgive us and let us be here for you..." I sobbed like a little girl.

He didn't say a word and dread filled my entire being. What if he just plainly hates us because he was all alone all these years...or...

A small, shy but hopeful voice got my attention: "You'll be there for me? For real?"

"For real."

Hesitantly, I felt small arms hugging me back and tears slowly wetting my hospital gown.

"He, I have a family 'tebbayo!" he stated through his tears when my mom joined our hug. "I'm...I'm not alone anymore dattebayo!"

* * *

"Naruto, don't you ever clean up!? How are we supposed to pack what you want to keep with how messy this place is!" I grumbled, lying on my back on the wooden floor after I slipped on dirty underwear. Boys will be boys, but still...

"But nee-chan, I'm not used to have people over!" he replied, cups of ramen in his hands. Don't tell me...yeah, he was emptying a cupboard in his kitchen.

I left the hospital a week ago, a week where, even if I have a crutch, Naruto dragged everywhere. And I mean _everywhere_. Not that I was mad to go back to Ichiraku and remembered how small it used to be, I could have avoided running everywhere in the forest or the village because Naruto wanted to show everything. He didn't know I knew my way in Konoha, at least where the main things were, but still...he's full of energy and I feel old. Not mentally, but physically.

But now, we're moving. My mom told me this morning, caught me by surprise and kicked me out to get Naruto, because he was going to live with us. It makes me happy, of course, and I knew we were going to leave that shitty place in which we were hiding to fully live our life, but...I didn't think mom would find a place that fast.

All of this to say, I packed storing scrolls to help packing Naruto's stuff while mom took care of the move, but she couldn't possibly do that all alone, could she? She said she had help but...from who?

"Naruto, you're not taking all of your ramen cup, are you?"

"I'm not throwing them away! Please" he pleaded, hugging his precious amount of junk food in his arms. Some of them fell, which made me sweat drop.

"Fine then," I said and got up, taking a scroll from by bag. I went to his kitchen table and opened the scroll on it. "Naruto, food on the table." He obeyed without a word and I sealed everything and I heard him gasp. I shot him a quick glance and couldn't keep the proud smirk from appearing on my face. "Now, gather your dirty clothes in a pile, the clean one in another and what you want to take with you in a third one."

"Okay, but how did you do that!? That was so cool!"

"I'll tell you more later, when we're home, so hurry up." I instructed him with a lazy yawn when I sat on his bed. "Moving is always a drag." I added more quietly to myself, unheard by the blond boy.

He beamed at the word 'home' and I gave a faint smile at that. I even laughed when he rushed to do what I told him to. Once all the storage was done and carefully placed into my bag, we started cleaning the whole place. We might have almost had a water fight but I stopped us before it went too far. But it wasn't my fault, old Naruto told me about his childhood, making me feeling guilty as fuck, so when I heard him laughing and truly smiling so much, I didn't want it to stop! But I had too, we couldn't give the place back in a worse condition than before.

So, after four long hours of cleaning from top to bottom, I gave the key back to the landlord. I kept myself from scowling at the _extremely_ happy look on his face. But the beaming Naruto next to me reminded me that I wouldn't ruin this day.

"So kiddo," I started, giving him a piece of paper on which an address was written, "show me the way."

"Yosh!" he exclaimed, starting to walk immediately. He stopped when he realized I was following him slowly and waited for me. I could swear that he would soon start jumping from excitement. "Hurry up nee-chan!"

"Yeah yeah..." I mumbled once I reached him.

It was barely a ten minutes walk. But then, we were confronted to a huge dilemma.

"Naruto, you're sure it's here?" I asked, gazing in awe at the house. There was no way that...

"Yeah...I'm sure..." He answered in the same tone. He was even gaping like me. "Are you rich?"

"Well...we're not low on money because mom knows how to deal with this perfectly and gets jobs easily but...no way we could afford that..."

It was a two-story house, not that big but still bigger than what I was used to. There was a small courtyard in the front of the house and from the look of it, there should be a yard in the back. Other than that, the walls were white and the roof red, like most of the buildings in Konoha.

"Ha, there you are you two!" my mother shouted from the main door, her hair tied in a messy bun from where some red locks were popping out. A short term hair dye she did, and luckily. Brown hair didn't suit her, like it wouldn't have suited Aunty Kushina.

"Mom...how..."

"Later the question, come on in!"

I shared a look with my cousin and, shrugging at the same time, we executed the order. I threw my bag on the light brown couch at my left once I removed my shoes. In front of it is a TV, not cheap but not expensive either, against a beige wall, with a coffee table in between. Right in front of me is a dark brown dinner table with six chairs around of the same color. Once I'm next to it, I looked at my left. A fitted kitchen behind the TV wall, and the entire room has the same beige walls and light brown floor. In front of me is a patio door leading to the yard, as I was expecting. There was a big weeping willow too, which would make a good resting place for the sunny and warm days. Looking at my right, I saw two door. One lead to what looked like a study, and the other lead to the staircase.

Naruto helping my mother, I went up. Same colors for the walls and floor than downstairs. Right at my right is the bathroom, simple in white tiles. I went to my left to turn back. One door to a bedroom with a double bed, mom's room then. Then, two door opposing each other. Naruto's and my room pro...

"I'll ask Akiko-san nii-san!"

Huh? Sasuke?

"Wait Sasuke don't run!"

I froze and didn't even notice Sasuke running pass me. I...I haven't heard that voice for years and...and...

Itachi bumped into me when he ran out of the room to get Sasuke. Because we were both startled, I fell on my back and he didn't have the time to realize what was happening that he towering me, his knees on each side of my hips.

And we were staring at each other with wide eyes.

For very, very long seconds. Even at thirteen he was that attractive. From the long onyx hair, to onyx eyes that seemed to look directly at my soul and...

"Good afternoon Akane-san." he whispered quietly to me, gaining his composure back.

I hadn't heard his voice for so long...so deep and yet...

Before I knew it, a panic glint appeared in his eyes. Touching my cheek, I understood why. I wasn't ready to see him so abruptly and the excess of emotion got to me. I was crying.

"What the hell are you doing Itachi?" an irritated voice asked from the other room.

"I was running after Sasuke and I didn't see her Shisui, that's all." The younger Uchiha explained, averting his eyes to look at his relative. "I don't know why she's crying though."

"Why are you still on her?"

It seemed like it made him realize we were still in an ambiguous position and he got up, for Shisui to pull me up on my feet. He took my face in his hands to make me look at him, but my eyes were glued on Itachi. Itachi who was alive and not an S-rank criminal.

"Did he hurt you? Tried anything weird?"

"Shisui!" Itachi protested, clearly scowling at him.

"What, with those poor social abilities of yours, you could have done something without knowing it was wrong!" Shisui told him, still staring at him.

"I still know that..."

"I'm fine," I muttered under my breath, finally giving Shisui some attention. "I...wasn't expecting to see him today."

Shisui seemed to muse at my words and gave me a pointed look, finally letting go of my face.

"Well, your mom asked us to help her moving and, well, you did save Sasuke so..."

"You would have found us if we hadn't move, we were lucky only one was after us." I cut him, gazing once again at Itachi. "Sorry for startling you with my tears Itachi, it has been quit a rough..."

"Don't worry about it." He droned at me, but his eyes not meeting mine.

There was an awkward pause, that Shisui broke with an uncomfortable laugh to tell we should go downstairs. Naruto and Sasuke were apparently yelling at each other, and from the new voice, Mikoto-san was there as well.

Wow, that was not how I was planning to see Itachi. I was supposed to mentally be prepared and to see him in a long, long time.

Not now.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading ! And feel free to leave reviews !**


	7. Konoha Arc: Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I own any OCs in this, the rest is Masashi Kishimoto.**

* * *

"I'm not..I'm not..." I stuttered weakly, a scroll in my hand. "Mom, I can't..."

"The letter said it was for you honey, it's okay to accept it. You should accept it." my mom tried to convince me but th lump in my throat wouldn't go away. I know, I read the letter, that familiar writing but...

"That should go to Naruto, Hiraishin was Minato's signature technique." I told her with a frown. It felt wrong, so, so wrong to held that scroll in my hand. For me? Why...I've never had a great reaction to that jutsu, why would I want to learn it?

"The letter never said it was for you to learn it."

"Huh?"

"I knew Minato more than you. It wasn't just because you were his goddaughter that he was fond of you, I have no doubt he would have take you as a fuinjutsu apprentice if...well, you know." she explained with a nostalgic smile dancing on her lips.

I glanced at the red and blue scroll once again. It has been two weeks since we moved and a lot happened actually. Most of it was caused by oji-chan. Even dead he managed to do things for others. God damn prodigy. Anyway, the biggest surprise was how mom got the house. Surprise, apparently, when he was the Yondaime and I was at his place, Kushina and him got us a place for when we would move to Konoha, because that was the original plan. But still, as the Hokage, his will said the place was ours, or mom's, and that's basically it. I guess that having us far from his eyesight wasn't pleasant to Minato after what had happened.

When it came to money, even if we had our savings, mom actually got a job at the Konohagakure Intelligence Division, because that's where a Seal Master is the most asked for. And she got the job like a month after we arrived and hadn't told me about it! But well, it seemed like the reputation she gained back in Uzushio followed her, as well as, once again, what Minato would tell about her. But mom told me not to care about it anyway, that no matter what happened with my soul, I was her thirteen year-old daughter and I should enjoy my youth. Easier said than done when I know how expensive raising two kids is. Plus, she also had some requests from clan, which was to be expected.

As a result, I spent most of my time with Naruto. When he's not at school, it's mostly exploration, eating dinner at Ichiraku on Fridays and chilling in front of the TV or in my or his room once his homework was one. I also take care of picking him up after school, and it's incredible the number of stares I got the first time I went because Naruto screamed 'Nee-chan!' with stars in his eyes when he saw me. It was adorable, but also sad somehow. But I managed to get even more stares when Sasuke saw me too and called me 'nee-san'. Less loudly than my cousin, but that's Sasuke. I realized than when he's not with his family or me, he is an arrogant little brat. Well, I guess that he wants his dad to acknowledge him.

Oh, and it seemed like Itachi was on a break or something from what Sasuke told me. This whole coup story must have taken a huge toll on him, even though he didn't kill his family, and he got holidays by the Hokage I guess. But in the end, I would often see him when I was waiting for Naruto after school, and except greeting each other, we didn't speak. Mainly because I was giving him the cold shoulder. It was not my fault if I barely could deal with seeing him right now! But the thing was, he must have been interested or curious about me, because he would try to engage a conversation in the beginning. He stopped after three days when my cold answers became...silence. I plainly started ignoring him. I know it was not fair, and maybe he was a little bit hurt that a girl he barely knew was blatantly snubbing him, but I couldn't cope with him now. Because I needed to fully integrate he was not... _him_.

Then, we were told by the Hokage that, now that mom was legally Naruto's tutor, Minato's and Kushina's belongings were ours to take care for Naruto for when he'll be older. So we have a lot of fuinjutsu now, between his and Kushina's. Truth be told, I already knew most of them because I had gotten my hand on it previously. But, it didn't keep me, when Naruto was at school, from going through all of them to know why my soul was sent back. Unfortunately, even if I found the scroll for the technique, there was nothing about secondary effects except that we were bound to the Shinigami.

"Fine," I sighed, putting the scroll away, "fine. What..."

I was cut by the sound of doorbell. My mom waved me off so I got up, not without complaining, and went to the door. What a surprise it was to see Shisui standing there, hands in his pocket and a stupid grin on his face. I resisted the urge to face palm. Another thing I did? Avoiding that guy like the plague.

"The Hokage has asked me to fetch you!" he joyfully announced me. I just put my shoes on he yanked me outside and was silent the whole way. Shisui is not stupid, he realized I had been avoided him. The grim look on his face confirmed it.

"Do you know why the Sandaime wants to see me?"

"No." he replied sharply, not sparring me a glance when we arrived in front of the Hokage Tower.

I cringed a little when he stomped up the stairs. It could be funny if I wasn't the target of his anger. Once he reached the top, he stopped and finally glanced at me with annoyance.

"Now that I finally managed to see you for the first in two weeks, care to tell me why you've been avoiding me?" he asked me bluntly with a scowl on his face.

I gulped. Yep, he's pissed. And now he was crossing his arm and I almost could see tapping his foot on the ground.

"And you better tell me the truth. I'm not Itachi, you can't just ignore me without giving a reason because I barely know anything about you." he continued.

"I...well...I realized how real the situation was?"

"What?" he said and raised an eyebrow at me.

"The Uchihas are alive and...I mean...Shisui, I _mourned_ you. I cried because you were dead and that I would never see you again and now you're..."

"That's the reason?" He hissed with annoyance flashing in his dark eyes.

"I'm sorry?" I frowned at him and he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You could have told me you needed time to adapt now you're not hiding anymore instead of avoiding me with no explanation. I thought I did something wrong and couldn't even talk about it to Itachi because his case is worst than mine." he explained, half with relief and half scolding me.

"Forgive me?"

He stared at my face, deep in thoughts, so I gave him an embarrassed smile. He closed his eyes in reflection and took a step forward. He slowly raised his hand and as a reflex I closed my eyes. Just to open them again when I felt a finger poking my cheek, and then pinching it.

"Don't do that again." he whispered to me, and guilt filled me when I realized I really had hurt from the faint pain in his eyes.

"Sure. Shouldn't we go to..."

"Oh right!" he exclaimed. He took my hand and dragged me to the Hokage's office. He knocked, waited a few seconds and opened the door. "Hokage-sama, I brought her."

"Thank you Shisui-kun, you can leave." the Uchiha did as told and I stepped forward. "How have been Akane-kun?"

I shrugged, "Fine I guess, Naruto can be clingy but I can deal with him."

"Good," he nodded and exhaled the smoke of his pipe. "Have you or Akiko found anything about your seal?"

"Not really, my mother didn't find anything in the books of Konoha library and the only thing written in the scroll Minato left me says it bounds us to the Shinigami. Just things we already knew."

"It actually can be useful." the Hokage informed me thoughtfully. I perked up at that and shot him a puzzled glance. "Minato and you both have a seal on your stomach. The difference is that your soul has been sent back in time when his was sent in the Shinigami's stomach."

"Yeah..."

"What is the difference between the two of you which has a link to this jutsu?"

"The differen..." I started but stopped to widen my eyes. Of course, no difference between oji-chan and I even though we're both fuinjutsu users, the jutsu's origin. "The Uzumaki blood running in my veins and the chakra that comes with it."

"Exactly what I thought." He agreed with a nod of the head.

Now that I'm thinking about it, from what old Sasuke told me...when he brought the Hokage back during the war, they were all in the Shinigami's stomach. The Sandaime because he used the technique, and he doesn't have Uzumaki blood either. So that's the reason?

"I would need more informations about Uzumaki kinjutsu Hokage-sama. Is there any other informations from the clan in Konoha we haven't seen? This...there must be secondary effects to being 'reborn' if I can call it like that."

"Hum...there must be in Mito-sama's belongings. However, even if I am the Hokage, I am not allowed to look through it. Only a relative could give the authorization needed."

"Oh." Hide your disappointment Akane, hide it.

"What I can do is contact my student and tell her that an Uzumaki of the village would like to know more about her clan and would like to have the permission to take a look at her grandmother's personal effects." he added with the hint of a smile.

"Yes! Hum, I mean...that would be useful to..."

"You're dismissed Akane-kun." the Hokage chuckled at my outburst and I blushed of shame, but bowed and left.

* * *

"Kakashi-san?"

He didn't budge when I called him, or when I walked past him and to set the flowers down. I stayed on my knees in front of the Memorial Stone and looked at it. Oji-chan's name, Aunty's name, Rin-san's name was missing but not Obito's name. It's faint, but I remember my godfather stopping by with three kids and introducing them as his students. I remember mistaking the Uchiha symbol for a lollipop and the one bearing the symbol correcting me and proclaimed that he would be the Hokage one day. But that boy died during the Third War.

I knew he wasn't dead though. He survived and provoked Kurama and killed my family, including his own sensei. He manipulated Yagura-sama and declared war. But even though, the boy with the dream to be Hokage one day died, and that's that boy I came to visit. The one who saved his friends even if it meant death.

Now that I'm thinking about it, technically he was the one who ordered Hoshigaki-san to kidnap me when I was eleven. He was the one who ordered Sasori to kill my mom.

No matter what, Obito died that day.

"Have you been to the cemetery before?" Kakashi-san asked me, not breaking eye contact with the stone.

"Yeah, I had a lot of people to visit and with Naruto at the Academy, it was the best moment. There is too many people I know at that place." I answered, getting up. "That was my last stop."

"Four. Rin, Minato-sensei, Kushina-san and Fubuki-kun."

"It has been a while since I've heard my older brother's name," I sighed softly and dusted my clothes. "You know, no matter what you think about yourself, you protected me that day."

"Liar." I raised a curious eyebrow at him. "If I had protected you you wouldn't call me 'Kakashi-san'."

"I thought you hated 'Kakashi-nii'?"

"At least you weren't traumatized."

I pondered over his words. True, but that's what pushed me to survive in Kirigakure. The fact I made it out alive that day made me survive in the Bloody Mist, no matter how much I hated training or the mission. The only thing that mattered was my survival, and with time I didn't care if it meant killing others.

"I have to go to the Yamanaka's, apparently Inoichi-san wants to see me." I told him when I started leaving, waving at him. "It's probably going to rain, so don't be an idiot."

"You're way too young to tell me this."

"Oh, am I?" I hummed at myself.

I left and made my way back into the village, quietly gazing at the crowd. It was the middle of the afternoon and many people thought it would be a good occasion to go shopping. When I arrived at the flower shop, I was even a little surprise by how crowded it seemed to be.

"Akane-san?" I cursed under my breath and turned my head. I met Itachi surprised eyes and narrowed mine curiously. "What are you doing here?" he asked, not bothered by my stare.

"My mom told me Inoichi-san wanted to see me, what are you doing here?"

He frowned pensively, "My mother told me the same thing."

"Right on time you two."

We both averted our eyes from each other to look at the Yamanaka leader, who told us to follow him. We ended up in the house part of the shop, pretty big actually, and we stopped in room with three cushions on the floor, two facing the last one.

"Do you know why you're here?" We both shook our head and sat the cushions in front of him. "Well, your parents thought you needed a therapy."

"What!?" I almost yelled when Itachi only widened his eyes, but clenched his fists on his pants. "What for!? And why together!?"

"I have to agree, a therapy is not to be done with someone else." The Uchiha spoke out coldly.

"Well, you both went through traumatizing events when you were around the age of four and never received help. Because of recent events, your parents thought you needed to talk about it."

"That's bullshit, and I won't stay here to talk about it nine years after." I stated, ready to get up.

"Your reaction proves you're not over it Akane-chan."

I glared at him, but he ignored it.

"I know what you went through, but I can't do anything if you don't say anything."

My rising anger simmered down a little. If he knew, I wouldn't be confronted to pity, right?

"Fine." I grudgingly accepted. Mom wouldn't leave me alone if I ditched it.

"You're doing it?" Itachi asked me with a frown.

"My mom won't leave me alone if I don't. Maybe that's...not so bad..." I almost sneered the end of the sentence.

"Itachi-kun?"

He looked at his fists. His shaking fists and glared at nothing in particular. To be honest, old Itachi never told me anything, really, about his past. But he was totally withdrawn. This one was not there yet, so maybe, maybe it could help him. That's why I placed a hand on his fist. He raised his glare at me and I gulped. This was one of his coldest glare I bet.

"Maybe it can help you know, to move on."

"You were against it a minute ago." he replied icily.

"Yeah, but it looks like, that we want it or not, we're in this together. If I can give it a try, you can too."

He stared intensively at me. After I all, I was the girl who was giving him the cold shoulder and was avoiding him as much as she could and now I was trying to help him. I'd say he was confused as fuck if he wasn't Itachi.

"Okay," he finally accepted.

"It was faster than I thought to convince you." Inoichi-san admitted. "Itachi-kun, I will take care of Akane-chan first. You can go in the room in front of this one and occupy yourself."

He nodded and left.

"So, this is going to be simple. I want you to tell me what happened before you came to Konoha nine years ago."

I sighed and looked down, my previous bravery completely gone.

"Nothing will come out of this room." The Yamanaka assured me.

I breathed out deeply and started talking.

* * *

"Your turn," I announced to Itachi when I stepped in the room he was in. He nodded, nervously I noted, and stood up, placing the book he was reading back in the bookshelf. "and if it can help, forget you're a shinobi and think of yourself as a random thirteen year old."

"Would you pick up Sasuke at the same time as Naruto-kun?" he asked me in return, not looking directly at me. Probably for me not to see his troubled eyes.

"Sure, you know where I live." I told him and left the place.

I hope he will be okay...because that was tough. You need to sink back in the heart of the trauma and it's...awful. Because talking about it made me realize once again how useless I was back then. As I walked to the Academy, I internally cheered myself up. The War left scars to everyone and I am not different. Because...that was the War that changed him.

"Nee-chan!" Naruto shouted when he spotted me on the swing. Once again, we received glances and I was sure I heard some parents whispering, but a glare from me shut them up. Plus, I wore the same symbol than Naruto. The Uzumaki symbol.

"You didn't cause trouble I hope? Last time I went to see one of your teacher I thought I would make it worst."

"No! Even though Kiba made fun of me and I did the same!"

"I see. Where's Sasuke?"

"Here." the latter said when he was close enough. "Hello nee-san, have you seen nii-san?"

"As a matter of fact, I have. He had to do something for your parents and asked me to take you with me, you don't mind?"

He pouted and shook his head, hiding his disappointment as much as he could whereas Naruto was complaining. I raised an eyebrow at Sasuke when he frowned at me.

"Were you with him?"

"Yeah, I had to do the same thing for my mom as well." I explained, taking their hands to lead the way.

Naruto's chatter filled the way home. With Sasuke giving him sneaky remarks. So they bickered, and I was the voice of reason.

Because I'm the smartest, duh. And oldest, but let's not talk about that.

Once we're home, Naruto threw his bag on the couch and ran to the kitchen whereas Sasuke was more than polite, even though mom was at work. It must suck to be important to an important clan sometimes. But it didn't stop him to criticize my cousin when he appeared once again, his mouth stuffed with candies. I sighed and my voice stopped Naruto before he walked in the study.

"Couz', you could at least try to be a good host and offer something to drink and eat to your friend."

"But...but that teme is not my friend!" he cried out comically, a finger pointed at Sasuke.

"I'm still a guest, so be a good host dobe." the Uchiha taunted him. I pinched his cheek.

"Now, be a nice guest Sasuke."

I squealed mentally at his pout and watched Naruto and Sasuke trying to be civil with each other. Flipping hilarious. So after making snacks for everyone, no way I'm letting Naruto screw up his teeth, even his baby teeth, I made my way to the study and sat between them at the square coffee table. I sweat dropped at them glaring at each other. No matter what, their friendship would always be complicated.

"Naruto, ready to continue the translation?"

"Yosh! That's easy!"

Leave it to his DNA to find easy something most people do not even bother to comprehend because it looks like scribbles. So, whereas Naruto was translating some very short sentences in fuin, Sasuke was doing his homework. But I guess seeing Naruto so focused on something was weird to him. I chuckled at him, which he noticed and glared at me.

"What is he doing?" he hissed at me and dropped his pencil on the table.

"Fuin translation."

"Fu...in?" he repeated with curiosity.

"Remember how I got that sword back then and the symbols? He's learning the meaning of them and is pretty good at it."

"What for?"

"Seals. That's the symbols used for them, pretty much like a code you could say." I explained, taking a sip of my orange juice.

"Pff, I bet that's easy." he said smugly, almost arrogantly.

Two sheets of paper appeared under his nose. He darted his eyes between them and my smiling face. The thing is, the symbols in fuin all look alike, the differences are basically imperceptible for everyone, except if you're a seal master, like oji-chan and Jiraya-sama, or an Uzumaki. It wasn't rare to use fuin to send messages in Uzushio from what mom told me. I know how to read and write it, even if my soul hadn't been sent back I would know because I was immersed in it ever since I was born. As for Naruto, his Uzumaki senses are popping out. Old Naruto never really looked into fuinjutsu to be fair, he would let me deal with this. But if kid Naruto wants to, I'll teach him.

Back to Sasuke, he was clearly struggling, his brows in a deep frown.

"I'm sure nii-san would translate that easily." he proclaimed, crossing his arms with his head high to prove his point. I had no doubt Itachi would grasp it, but it took a while for Minato, so it should for him too. "Nii-san is a genius!"

"So I've heard, but it would take him a while. Plus, he is already amazing at what he does, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he is!" Well, count on Sasuke to beat any of Itachi's fangirl.

"Nee-chan is better than Itachi-nii!"

I froze. Oh oh, huge fight coming.

"No, nee-san is strong but my nii-san is stronger!"

"No, nee-chan is!"

"Nii-san!"

"Nee..."

"I'm good at what I do, Itachi is good at what he does, end of the story." I cut them sharply, throwing them a threating smile.

And I wouldn't last long if I didn't lock his eyes. Even without his sharingan I doubt I would win. He is _the_ Itachi Uchiha after all. I could win if I kidnapped Sasuke and threaten him to give him to his fans though...that's a plan worth exploiting huh...

I was cackling evilly before I knew it.

"Nee...nee-chan?" came the scared voice of my baby cousin.

"Nothing, just scheming, keep translating." I told him with a wave of my hand. "Sasuke, want to learn something your nii-san doesn't know?"

His eyes brightened at my offer. The prospect of being better than his brother in something must be quite pleasant for him after all. Thus, the next half an hour passed more or less calmly, me explaining the simplest symbol to Sasuke whereas Naruto was progressing without any big troubles. When he asked me to teach after mom and I explained to him the whole Uzumaki thing, I wasn't scared for the translating part or the comprehension of the seal...it's the calligraphy that scared me. On the other hand, it was the opposite with Sasuke. The comprehension would be hard as hell, but not the calligraphy, especially because he must have had some private classes when he was younger.

"Oh, must be Itachi," I said, standing up when I heard the doorbell. When I opened the front door, it was a visibly mentally exhausted Itachi that greeted me. "That much huh."

He glared at me in response, a 'no comment' glare that vanished when his brother rushed to him. Naruto followed slower and stood next to me. I muffled a laugh when I realized Itachi was barely listening to Sasuke's enthusiastic chatter.

"We should go home Sasuke." he finally said, snapping out of his thoughts. "Thank Akane-san and Naruto-kun for their hospitality."

I covered Naruto's mouth with my hand in anticipation.

"Thank you nee-san," he told me politely and scowled at Naruto "...dobe."

Naruto started to struggle against my grip and it was Itachi's cue to grab his brother to leave. I smelled a sibling scolding within the Uchiha.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading ! And feel free to leave reviews !**


	8. Konoha Arc: Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I own any OCs in this, the rest is Masashi Kishimoto. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Also, a little help about the timeline:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 13**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 8**

 **Shisui: 17**

 **Kakashi: 22**

* * *

"Ha!" Sasuke shouted triumphantly, his pencil forgotten on the table. He stoop up and gave me his paper. "I did it!"

"Oh, it seems like it. You're progressing, congrats." I told him, checking his work.

It became a habit now. I had two hours of therapy per week, including one on Thursdays just before Itachi's, who had the same amount. So, because he was slowly going back on missions, my connection Shisui told me, Sasuke passed some time at home with Naruto and I. Sometimes mom when she's not working. Whereas Naruto started calligraphy and I had forbidden anyone within a five-meter radius around him when he was practicing, Sasuke slowly got a grasp of fuin. He's a smart kid anyway.

As for me, a routine settled. Spending most of my time with Naruto, and Sasuke when we both could, being dragged around by Shisui, avoiding Itachi except when it was Sasuke related and training with Kakashi-san in his spare time. I had to keep myself in shape and improve too, with what was coming. Even if I wasn't a kunoichi anymore, it was clear for the Hokage than making me a shinobi from the Leaf would get the Mist attention when I simply just hated being a ninja, I couldn't escape the Akatsuki. Thinking about it, I wonder who filled Itachi's spot. But it's not as if I was really taking care of this. Plus, Sandaime had asked me to write down what I knew that could happen. So I wrote down what old Naruto, old Sasuke and old Kakashi-san told me. Basically, it was how Madara was a dick, even dead, how he manipulated Obito and the Mizukage, how then Kaguya betrayed him. How Sasuke turned dark and then good. How the five nations became allies. How the Akatsuki would target the Jinchuriki. How Orochimaru would lure Sasuke with power and how their first chuunin exam were stopped. I didn't say he died during this, because I don't think anyone wants to know how they could possibly die.

I wrote down all I knew about the Akatsuki members from where I'm from.

I wrote down what Naruto told me about the night the Nine-Tails attacked and who did it, which lead to suspicions against the Uchihas.

Unfortunately, you can't do anything with no proof. And that was what we were lacking. Proofs. Anyway, the Hokage told me this would stay between the two of us. I learned that Fugaku-san had seen only what was related to his sons and the massacre mainly, and Shisui only knew a little bit about the Akatsuki.

Which meant they knew nothing about the Obito/Madara thingy. In a sense, it was better. The coup was avoided, the Hokage apologized in front of the Uchihas during an assembly and he...gave Fugaku a promotion or something so that the clan would be more invested in welfare of the village. In return, they both came to the conclusion that the Uchihas needed to be more open to the village and that the Police Forces should accept other clans and just people by testing their abilities. So basically, the Uchihas had to suck up their pride and gained the citizens trust.

A lot of compromises were made on both side. But there were still some unhappy people, once again from what Shisui told me before he dragged Naruto and I to Ichiraku. I think having my cousin calling him 'Shisui-nii' or 'nii-chan' when Sasuke always refused to do it makes him a little bit too happy. And when they're both siding against me it makes me wanna sulk in a corner.

As if they would let me do that.

"Must be your Itachi-nii." Naruto said when we heard the doorbell. He threw his brush against the wall in frustration, which Sasuke dodged just in time. "Damn it, I can't do them!"

"You're cleaning that wall, you know that?" I told him as I went to open the door. My eyes went wide when I recognized the Uchiha in front of me, and it wasn't Shisui, or Itachi, or Mikoto-san who liked to hang out with mom. "Fu...Fugaku-san?"

"Is your mother home?" he asked me sternly, looking down on me.

"Not yet...why?"

"Do you mind if I come in?" He sighed, rubbing his temple. I stepped aside to let him in and once the door was closed, glimpsed two heads popping from the study. They can fight all they want, that's how they're building their friendship.

"Father?" came the stunned voice of Sasuke when his father sat at the dinning table.

Wow, I never thought I would have Fugaku Uchiha at my home one day.

Never thought I would see him either.

"Hey Naruto, why don't you show Sasuke that awesome set of shuriken mom bought you the other day?"

"Set of..." he started and gulped in front of my glare. "Oh, them! Come te...Sasuke!"

He grabbed his arm and ran up the stairs. I glanced at the top and closed the door to be sure they wouldn't eavesdrop. I offered some tea to the Uchiha patriarch, which he accepted, and while I was making it, a thousand scenarios went through my head. Hence my stare on him when I sat too and he took a sip of the tea.

"So...I'm not my mother but is there anything I can do...?" I inquired shyly. This whole situation was too uncomfortable for my liking.

"I never thank you for sharing your information about Danzo, did I?" he retorted, raising his eyes to look at me dead in the eyes.

"Having a fair police to keep peace where my family lives instead of a tragedy is enough to me. A powerful clan has been wiped off because they were feared, I gave a common ground to keep another one to suffer the same fate."

"That is a point of view. By the way, I heard from Mikoto you were teaching Sasuke fuinjutsu." He was trying to change the subject, but the stiffness in his body didn't escape me. But let's play his game for now.

"He doesn't want Naruto to be better than him in something. He can decipher some of them, but that's impressive knowing he's not even nine yet and doesn't have a drop of Uzumaki blood in his veins. If he were to pursue in this path, combined with his sharingan, it could create a scary combination. He could even beat oji-chan one day, who knew?"

"I see." He whispered to himself with a proud smile on his lips. Maybe if he showed this side of him to his son...no, you don't stick your nose in their family problems Akane, you've been too involved with the Uchiha recently, and you're still friends with one, two if I count Sasuke...and your children were Uchihas...that's a lot actually.

"Pardon me Fugaku-san, but you wouldn't have walk all the way up here to thank me and talk about Sasuke, am I wrong? Is there something else?"

"Actually..."

Someone rang the damn bell once again. I went to open the door and found Shisui, with a grin on his face, and Itachi. And they both stared at Fugaku-san as if they were dreaming.

"Naruto's room, now." I ordered them, closing the door behind them.

"Yes mommy." Shisui whined to break the tension, even though I knew he was suspicious. And Itachi didn't stop staring at his father. I couldn't blame him though. This whole situation was suspicious.

* * *

"Well, that's awkward, don't you think?" Shisui asked Itachi, climbing up the stairs. "I thought your father was still extra busy with some of the elders still on his back?"

"He is," Itachi confirmed in a worried tone and furrowed his brows. "He's not home often, so he shouldn't even have the time to go in the village."

"Maybe he visited the Uchihas who decided to move out of the compound to check on them?"

"No, he probably wants something from Akane-san..."

"Or Akiko-san." Shisui added when they stopped in front of Naruto's door. He opened it and the two teenagers were met by a strange sight. They stared at the kids, and the kids stared at them. Sasuke let go of the rope in his hands and Naruto's face lost his purplish color to a more healthy one when he managed to loosen the rope around his stomach a little. "What are you doing you two?"

"That was dobe's idea."

"Teme, I never said I wanted to be the one in the rope!" Naruto roared. He went to punch Sasuke, the latter ready to fight back. But the blow never came, only Shisui's laugh and Itachi amused smirk. And Naruto was whining at the rope he tripped over.

"Sasuke, you know this won't fool Father." Itachi told his brother with a slight scolding tone.

"Oh, I know nii-san, I even tried to tell him but he's too stupid to realize it." And he said that beaming, which was an odd contrast. But quite normal if he thought at the odd rivalry evolving between his younger brother and Naruto.

"But!" the Uzumaki pouted while Shisui was helping him to get up. He squealed when he was picked up. "Heh!? Shisui-nii-chan!?"

"Come on Sasuke, go back to what you were doing!"

"Okay!"

"Shisui..." Itachi muttered under his breath, staring at his best friend with wonder.

"Hey, they'll never learn from their mistakes if we stop them from making them!"

It failed, obviously. Sasuke not having enough strength yet to fully secure Naruto, Shisui was here as a back up and Itachi was watching. Naruto ending up stuck in the tree in the backyard by multiple kunai, a gift from his father. A glare from Akane when she went to her cousin made them go downstairs as fast as they could, even though Itachi wasn't showing it was effective on him. He was used to her glares by now after all.

He honestly didn't know what he had done to deserve them. She was avoiding him, ignoring him when they were at the same place and clearly didn't want anything to do with him. But what was confusing even more was how, when they met during a therapy session, she would look as if she cared about him. If he were to be honest, it was getting on his nerves. He could have thought she simply just didn't like the Uchiha clan, but Shisui was friend with her and she managed to get Sasuke call her 'nee-san', which was an achievement.

That was the main reason it was getting on his nerves. He wanted to be sure Sasuke wasn't giving his trust to anybody. He even came to the conclusion he could spy on her to see if she was trustworthy. It stopped quickly when Kakashi Hatake threw a kunai at him during one of his sparring session with the young girl.

He was intrigued and couldn't find anything about her. Maybe confronting her would be the best thing to do after all instead of acting in the shadows. She wasn't his mission or someone he was supposed to spy on, she was a citizen. Although she defeated a Root member. Officially, she was a citizen but with the capacities of a kunoichi.

He was intrigued and he hated being kept in the dark.

"Whose idea was it?" Fugaku asked the three of them as Akane and Naruto came back inside.

"My cousin Fugaku-san, he can be a drag once he has something in mind." the Sasaki responded for them, her hands covering the blond's mouth. "And you can't really blame them, having you here is strange. No offense sir."

Itachi watched his father glance at the girl and nod severely. He thanked her for her time and turned on his hills, ordering the three other Uchihas to follow him. He didn't miss it though. The reproachful glare she sent his way when they were leaving, and the silent question within it. The 'why did you let them do this?' within it.

As they neared the compound, Itachi took his cousin apart.

"Something's bothering you." Shisui stated with a serious look on his face.

"Why does she hate me?" he asked with faint irritation in his voice. Shisui blinked slowly at him and burst into laughter. "Shisui!"

"Sorry but...the long face for that Itachi...that's hilarious!" he laughed and wiped a tear from his eye. "Seriously, you don't care about any girls apart from your little Izumi and now that a girl doesn't give a damn about you you're throwing a fit!"

"I'm not throwing a fit." he hissed and glared daggers at the older teen. "And Izumi is not 'mine' as you put it."

"That's a question of time, she's head over hills for you. As for Aka-chan, she doesn't hate you you idiot." At this, Itachi shot him a look saying he didn't believe it, but Shisui simply waved it off. "She cares about Sasuke you know, and you're his brother so she can't really hate you. She just has a lot on her mind and..."

"Why should I be her way to let off steam?"

"Dang it Itachi, I knew you had this weird crush on her when we were younger and that you were quite the stalker but don't let your pride be _that_ wounded by the cold shoulder she's been giving, you lady killer!" Itachi slightly blushed at that. Was it a crush he had when he was younger? "No matter how funny it is to see you acting your age and flustered, don't worry about it. She'll come around and apologize. You just have to be patient. Plus, she's no threat to your brother, so relax and stop using him as the reason you want to know Akane."

"You know me too well." he sighed deeply but relaxed his shoulders.

"I know that as the heir, it's difficult to have people see past that, especially outside the clan." Shisui told him softly, patting his shoulder.

With that said, they both went home. Yeah, it would be good for Itachi to have another friend than himself, one he could rely on. But a grim look appeared on Shisui's face. It was okay for them to be friends once Akane overcame the sight of an alive Itachi and succeeded at making the difference between him and the one she once was in love with.

A small voice in the back of his mind would not stop bugging him though. The one that kept saying he didn't want them to develop more than a friendship.

* * *

"But I wanna know what Sasuke's dad told you!" Naruto kept whining and I plugged an ear. I shot a look at my tired mother, who was leaning on one leg, her hands on hips. "Please!"

"Naruto, stop throwing a tantrum and go to bed already. You have school tomorrow." My cousin puffed his cheeks and turned his head away from us, ignoring my mom. Gosh, he's such a pain in the ass sometimes.

Without a word, I threw him on my shoulder and went to his room, letting him fall on his bed with a loud 'ouch'. He didn't even sit, he just lay flat on his stomach, refusing to look at me. Now he was sulking.

"Naruto, look at me."

"No! I wanna know!"

"You're too young."

"You're not that much older than me nee-chan!" He argued, finally looking at me. I flicked him on the forehead.

"I'm still older and I don't go to the Academy unlike you dear cousin of mine. Don't worry about grown ups business." I told him gently, tucking him in his bed.

"But Sasuke told me it was weird for his dad to not be at work at that hour." He persisted with concerned eyes. "You're not leaving to go to prison nee-chan?"

"Of course not!" I laughed loudly. Leave it to a child's imagination to make you laugh. I could almost hear Aunty Kushina worrying too. "As I said, adults talks. Plus, you don't want to be involved in clan's business. Now, time to sleep."

"Okay..." He finally conceded. "Good night nee-chan."

"Good night." I kissed him on the cheek and left his room, turning off the light in the way. I sighed to myself in the hallway and went downstairs. No doubt this would only exhaust mom even more. Once I was back in the living-room, the fuming cup of hot chocolate at my seat brought the ghost of a smile on my lips. "Thanks mom."

"So, care to tell me why Fugaku-san came here?" she inquired as I sat in front of her, blowing on my cup. "In the afternoon?"

"Some elders and pig-headed people in the clan are still unhappy. The majority, especially civilians, are good with the changes. But the word is filled with prideful dicks and it's not enough."

"Sandaime?"

"He disagreed with what the Uchiha elders came up with, because it doesn't feel right towards oji-chan and Aunty, Fugaku-san doesn't like that idea either but in the end he came to ask me directly." I took a deep breath. Whatever happens, I'll forever be bound to that clan. Itachi, if you can watch me from where you are, I truly hope you're not angry at my decision. "They want me to sell my bloodline."

"Bastards." Mom cursed under her breath, her eyes glimmering with anger.

"And I said yes." She raised a questioning look on me, anger burning even more in it. "I want to protect the Konoha oji-chan would depict me. The Konoha he died for and the Uchihas are a part of the picture. The choices aren't that bad either. Fugaku-san actually refused to pressure me about a certain age from the moment I give an heir. It will become serious when Sasuke turns eighteen anyway."

"Honey, who..."

"It can't be the heir, as his children must be full blood. But it must be someone strong and important. Therefore, Sasuke's and Shisui's names popped up. The only reason he wanted to talk to you is because I'm still thirteen."

I jumped on my chair when her face harshly met the wooden surface of the table.

"That's how you bite the hand that feeds you Akane. Those power hungry geezers..." I continued sipping on my drink as my mother kept cursing against the table. Maybe it won't be that bad. I hope it won't.

* * *

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. I've never been good with clan's business. Or just with being with someone important. Especially if I don't know what they want from me. So when one Hyuuga Ko came up to me when I was waiting for Naruto in front of the Academy, I heard Sikamaru's voice telling me 'what a drag'. I knew the guy before, was friend with him, and old Temari would tease me about our so-called relationship. But I had given enough with clans, so it never became more than friendship. Still, it didn't explain why I was sitting in front of Hyuuga Hiashi.

"I do not wish to offend you in any way but why am I here Hiashi-san...sama, Hyuuga-sama?" I corrected myself when his white eyes seemed to read my soul and I fought the urge to gulp loudly. I couldn't tell who between him or Fugaku-san was the scariest.

"I would like to use your skills as a seal master." He told me sternly.

"I am no seal master yet. I don't even know how you become one in that time."

"To earn that title in Konohagakure, you must pass an exam at the Intelligence Division. Then you can practice officially. Recommendations from a clan head or the Hokage himself can accelerate the process." He explained smoothly. He took the fuming cup of tea in front of him with an elegance proper to the Hyuuga, and took a sip. "Of course, it is not only in my clan's interest I am telling you this. I have heard good things about Sasaki Akiko, and her title as a Seal Master coming from Uzushio still has a significant impact on her growing reputation within the village. It should not be long before she is overworked."

"I beg your pardon Hyuuga-sama, but I do not think my mother's well-being really matters to you." I said coolly and narrowed my eyes slightly. Years of working with Shikamaru under Kakashi-san and then Naruto taught me how to read between the lines. "Is there another reason as to why you want me to earn that title?"

"There are." He didn't deny it and used the plural. Shit. "You are obviously not a child, nor a civilian, I shall treat you as such then. The Uchihas may have admit the preparation of a coup, canceled it and Danzo-sama was the heart of the corruption in the deepest part of that village, but they have not gained our entire trust back. I am not talking because of the rivalry between our clans, but as a shinobi of Konoha. For some, you may very well work for the Uchiha clan to make sure they overthrow the Hokage."

"I see, so by making me have that title, you would make me a seal expert for the Hyuuga clan, an extremely powerful and influential clan of the village. A clan who would see immediately if I were to be under a genjutsu. Therefore you would be sure they are sincere about their intentions."

"Precisely."

I took my chin between two of my fingers and stared at the wooden floor. Hum...that made sense, and I don't think Hiashi-san would have me here if it was only his idea. The Hokage and Fugaku-san must have known about this too. To be fair, I wouldn't mind getting back to work. I felt like a housewife, taking care of Naruto so much.

"I am not against this idea, but I would like to know the full extent of what could be asked to me."

"I heard you faced a Byakugan user and sealed his eyes. This is a capacity I am interested in."

"You, as you or the clan leader?"

I bite the inside of my cheek in front of his polar glare.

"What you may know about us is to be kept secret." He said harshly and frowned at my insolence.

"I have no interest in spreading things, Hyuuga-sama. Clan's secrets and businesses are far from interesting for me, it is just useless headaches. The Uzumaki clan may be dispersed and forgotten by now, but I know the basis of how it works. Plus, if you were bound to know the secret of an Uzumaki's seal, that specific Uzumaki would know things about your clan. The Seal Master is to work with you, not for you, he cannot be ignorant." I stated calmly, the palms of my hands flat on my thighs.

"You know how deals between clans work." He noticed with an appreciative glint in the eyes.

"Ignorance can the downfall of anyone, especially the special ones. As for officially having the title, I accept, I will take the exam. I believe you can take care of the formalities."

He nodded and gestured toward the door, silently telling me I could leave and that we had an agreement. I stood up and as I went to the door, I stopped and turned my head to Hiashi-san.

"You know, sometimes you need to wait to find the key opening the bird cage, even if it is right under your nose." I whispered, a wry smile dancing on my lips.

"Even in such a short time, the Yondaime managed to make you talk like that." I felt flattered at that and bowed before taking my leave.

Now, I just needed to make sure I wouldn't build a huge reputation. Anyway, with two of the most powerful dojutsu's clan as 'client', because I was bound to work with the Uchihas too anyway, I was sure of it, I shouldn't be too much exposed.

Hopefully.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading ! And feel free to leave reviews ! Thank you** **HayaaShigure-kun** **for your review and thanks everyone for following and putting this story in your favorites!**


	9. Konoha Arc: Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I own any OCs in this, the rest is Masashi Kishimoto. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Characters age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 13**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 8**

 **Shisui: 17**

 **Kakashi: 22**

* * *

"Why do you wanna take an exam when you're not in school anymore dattebayo!?" My cousin asked me with his mouth full of ramen. "Exams suck! You don't think that much when you're on a mission!"

"You're wrong Naruto-kun," Shisui denied, his second bowl in front of him, "no matter how much you can hate classes, you learn the basis to survive in mission. It's important."

"But I bet you didn't have troubles in school Shisui-nii-chan, so you can't say anything! And nee-chan, if you pass, you'll be busy!"

"I heard rumors saying Fugaku-sama talked to you about working a lot with our clan too, right?" The Uchiha asked. He leaned to look at me and I nodded.

"With what he asked me he's wasting my talent but..." I sighed, moving the noodles in my bowl with my chopsticks. He asked me to look after his sons, especially Sasuke. A kinda like a guardian angel. But I would have done it anyway, that kid, traumatized or not, is too easily influenced.

"Nee-chan?" Naruto's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I glanced at him and Shisui and gave them a forced smile in front of their worried faces.

"I'm fine, but I think I need a walk." I stood up and left the shop. Walking through the crowd, I let my mind wandering. The more time passes, the more I feel like my previous life was just a dream. It's hard to see Naruto and Sasuke so young and to know a possible future. It's so hard to think that I could have shortened their life span. Fuck, they both were kidnapped by the Foundation because of my presence here!

I turned in a back alley and jumped onto the roof of a building. I jumped from roof to roof, the wind was lashing my face but it was making me feel something. It was making me feel something else than dread for what was coming.

Once I was close enough of the cliff, I jumped with lots of chakra in legs and landed smoothly on my godfather's head. I faced the village and sat promptly on the rock. How many time did oji-chan bring me here? How many time did Aunty scream at us because we were late for dinner? A nostalgic smirk found his way to my lips. It's scary to know what's to come. It's scary to think that I won't be able to play around this time. By deciding to follow Shisui, to go to Konoha, I sealed my fate in a way. Somehow, maybe that's why I accepted to work with the Hyuuga. Because even though I'm the one who decided it, I won't get away of the shinobi world anymore like the first.

No, I decided to fix my past mistakes and stop being the coward and selfish person I used to be. Fill with hatred for that world which had taken so many of my loved ones. It's such a scary thought to know someone you care about could be gone the next day. It's scary to see kids who wants to be a ninja when they're basically asking to be used as weapons. Old Naruto had changed that, he had lived and see the pain of this world and grew up. But my Naruto is still young, and so happy since we came in his life. The only pain he knew so far was the unfair treatment of the people of Konoha.

I frowned. Ignorant people will hate, will talk but will change sides when they'll see an interest for it. Right now, I hated most of that village, mainly the civilians. They were talking when they didn't know shit. Saying the Uchihas didn't budge for the Nine-Tails when they were just following orders.

That was disgusting.

Ne, oji-chan, I guess that moment hadn't come yet. The one where I would understand why you loved that village so much.

Because for now, it is not the Konoha I loved in the past with you, or the one I loved living in with the twins.

I wanted to make it happen. My dream happened when old Naruto became the Nanadaime. But I knew that until this happen, I would not like Konoha.

I wouldn't even be surprised if I ended up in jail for a night. I have patience, but it can become very thin.

I wonder how long Naruto's bullies will take to break it.

* * *

"What if I fail? Or...or what if I succeed but they tell me otherwise huh?"

"Calm down a little Aka-chan, weren't you a Seal Master before?" Shisui rationalized next to me when we were walking to the Intelligence Division. Hands in his pockets, he did not seem panicked at all, unlike me who was thinking about any reason I would fail.

"Yeah, but that was a different test and..." He shut me up by putting his forefinger on my lips.

"Relax. You're excellent at what you do, you had a recommendation from the Hyuuga clan, not everybody can have one from them. Just relax and forget it's a test. Listen to your official moral support."

"Since when is it official?" I asked.

"Since I decided it. And, we're here!" He announced, looking at the building in front of him. "If you pass, I'll forget you left me with Naruto-kun the other day at Ichiraku and that you didn't pay."

I shot him a sheepish grin and ran in the building. I quickly introduced myself at the front desk and repeated myself that Shisui was right and I had no reason to stress. I was a Seal Master before, I don't see why I would fail when I created a seal that blocks a dojutsu! The immobility seal I use is one my mom created though, so I just adapted it to my chakra, but I created a god damn seal that blocks a kekkai genkai! I'll pass that test!

I'll pass it!

But my legs kept shaking until I was in front of three shinobi, all wearing green jacket and hitai-ate with the Konoha emblem engraved in it. Of course, the one in the middle seems to be the 'chief' if I could put it like that. Must be mom's boss. He looked kinda strict and his face, at least his eyes, seemed like they had seen a lot already. Oh, there were Hiashi-san and Fugaku-san too! I better not embarrass them.

"How old are you?" He asked bluntly, his arms firmly crossed on his chest. Nope, not thirty-six Akane, thirteen. So once my answer was given, I was told to go in front of a scroll. "Release the item in it and seal in the other scroll.

I pressed my hand on the scroll without any hand signs, chakra flowing under my palm. A puff of smoke appeared loudly and under my hand stood a dozen of books. Don't tell me books were the only things they could think about...why not weapons, or food, or just stuff actually useful for ninjas!

I put the first scroll aside and took the blank one. I didn't waste time and my ink-coated brush ran smoothly on the paper. I executed the tiger sign and let my chakra flew towards the books. Not too much not to destroy the objects, but enough to cover each and all of them. They were gone in another puff of white smoke, and I raised a bored gaze to the three shinobi, who were writing quickly on their notebook. Except the Boss, because he was too cool for that.

Anyway, that was, like, the fundamental to every Seal Master, to seal an object to use it anytime. I was more relaxed now, so I followed the three shinobi to another room, where they made me recognize and name seals in a time-limit of thirty minutes. A paper test, eurk. Naruto would have cried at that point. I was finished after fifteen minutes, but that wasn't because of my previous life. Just because I was into sealing since forever. Because, once I was at the next task, I realized this was harder than the test in my time. Probably because we were at peace and the most difficult thing was working on that sealing technique thing when here a new war could broke out anytime.

That was the only thing I could think of as I was asked to use offensive and defensive seals on someone. On someone I knew. On someone with a _mask_.

"I'm sorry but..." I started and pointed an accusing finger to the person in front of me, and his creased eye smile. "...there's no way I'm seriously fighting him, right? I'm gonna die."

"Ma, Akane, I will go easy on you, don't worry." Kakashi-san reassured me. Well, reassured me, with a fawning voice. Too much fake sweetness in it that it made me cringe and I made a face.

"Hatake-san agreed to put you in a fighting situation to evaluate your reactivity and speed with which you make seals." My examiner told me. I sighed and rubbed my forehead. That was troublesome, but I guess that makes sense? I never said what rank I was in Kirigakure, and if I was to be a Seal Master to the Uchiha and Hyuuga clans, I should know how to fight. "Only taijutsu and seals are allowed."

"Ladies first," Kakashi-san said in a mock tone, but raised his forehead protector to show me his sharingan. Humph, at least he recognized I wasn't weak.

I ran to him and threw a punch, that he stopped easily. He clenched my fist in a death grip and turned me around so that my back faced him and he got me in an arm lock. Not letting that faze me at all, I slammed my foot in his thigh and felt him tensing with the strength I used. I transferred all of my weight on that leg to drag myself up and kicked him in the stomach. Of course, he was not in ANBU for nothing, so he let go of me and jumped back before I actually touched him. I did not let myself fall and put my hands on the floor, while still in the air, to get up. While doing so, I discreetly made two immobility seals on the floor.

I ran around him, letting immobility and explosive seals around. But he wouldn't let me have that way, so he took a kunai and charged. Not having any weapon and Kakashi-san getting closer, I ran on the wall and made an invocation seal with my foot. I activated right away and took my katana when the handle was barely visible. I deflected the shuriken he threw at me and jumped right on him. Our weapon clashed in a screeching noise and he repelled me by throwing me above him. I was caught by surprise by the strength he put in it and failed to stay up, my knees giving up under my weight.

I turned onto my back and moved back a little when I spotted Kakashi-san approaching me, a cold glint in his eyes. He was playing until now, his sharingan saw every little moves I made. But once he was close enough, I made the tiger seal. Symbols glowed a bright red under his right foot and he widened his eyes when it exploded. I got up and sped up to him. He didn't have the time to look behind him that I used the black smoke to cover my move and jumped on his back. I pressed my hand against his face and, even if he grabbed it, I placed my seal.

"Fuinjutsu: Pupil Seal!" I said and the whirl appeared on his face. Not giving him a moment to rest, I let him throw me away. Or tried, because I circled his arm with my owns and took him down with me, wrestling him as much as my female teenage body could against his male adult one. But I lasted long enough anyway. "Fuinjutsu: Immobility Seal!" Black lines appeared on the skin that was visible and Kakashi-san went limp, leaving me the joy to get out of his grasp easily. I got up and dusted myself, and I did not bother to keep myself from sticking my tongue at the silver-haired nin on the floor, who was glaring at me. "Ladies first to strike, last one standing." I glanced at the spectators, who, for the three shinobi, are gaping at us. The clans heads though seemed satisfied, but it was hard to tell because they were both as expressive as an ice block. "That's enough?"

"Yes, you can undo you seals." The Boss told me, which I did and Kakashi-san got up, looking grumpy as hell. "We will communicate you the results soon enough."

I nodded and started to make my way to the exit but a dull pain in my ankle stopped me. I must have sprained it with my bad landing. Haaa, it hurt like hell!

"You're limping." Kakashi-san noted when he reached me. "You sprained your ankle with your bad landing, didn't you?"

"How..."

"I saw how you landed. Your ankle is not supposed to reach that angle." He explained to me and kneeled, his back to me. "Hurry up."

"Piggyback ride!" I beamed and accepted the offer, wrapping my arms around his neck when he got up. I leaned my chin on his shoulder and closed my eyes.

"Don't fall asleep on me." He warned me, already exasperated with me. I smirked at that and opened my eyes.

"I won't, I just really want to go home. I can fix my ankle, I think I have what I need."

"Akiko-san will kill me when she knows you hurt yourself." He sighed deeply.

"Don't worry about it, she knows I keep bugging you for sparring session so..." I told him when we were exiting the building. I raised an eyebrow when I spotted the curly black hair of a certain Uchiha. "Shisui? What are you still doing here?"

"I have a mission after so I thought I would ask you how it went before I lea..." He started, turning around to see me. But he stopped and gave a puzzled look at Kakashi-san. "Kakashi-senpai?"

"Shisui-kun, how thoughtful of you to care for Akane's exam." The Copy-Cat told my friend, eying him suspiciously. "I hope she's not too much of a brat.

"Hey!" I cried with fake hurt in my voice. He ignored me, so I decided to answer Shisui. "You were right, that was easy. The only surprise was when they asked me to fight Kakashi-san to see my speed in seal making during battle. I sprained my ankle." To prove my point, I lifted my injury and winced slightly. The dumbest wound could be the most painful one.

"That explains why he's carrying you. Well, I'm off then." He said and raised two fingers in front of him.

"Come back in one piece." I waved as he grinned at me and body flickered away. I heard Kakashi-san faintly hummed under his breath and picked up his pace. "What?"

"Aren't you and Shisui-kun good friends?"

"Yeah, why?"

"He's a boy and you're a girl."

I frowned. "You're a pervert if you immediately think about that. Plus, he's my brother's age! Four years older than I am! He turned seventeen last month!"

"In a world where we die young th..."

"Shut up. Just...shut up. I'm not interested in him like that. Or in anyone." I glared at him when I heard his muffled laugh. Pff, smut reader.

* * *

"Naruto, ice." My mother commanded and my cousin stood to attention before running to the freezer. But I was too busy to look at my relatives tending at my ankle. No, I was focusing all of my attention on Kakashi-san and the cup of tea in front of him. My mom almost forced him to stay a little, and Naruto almost attacked him because he thought he was the cause of my injury. Which he was, but that was funny to see Kakashi-san ignoring him, even when Naruto was losing his temper and yelling he should respect his future Hokage.

If he only knew...Kakashi-san would be Hokage before him. Anyway, that jerk is staring dead into my eyes, silently telling 'I know what you're waiting for and you won't get it'. It wasn't my fault if what was under that mask was like...the biggest mystery in the whole while world! Rikudo Sennin's family drama? Pfff please, Kakashi-san's face is way more interesting!

"How was it by the way? Except for the unexpected fight." Mom asked me, carefully bandaging my ankle. I shrugged and Naruto was next to me in a second as if I was his new hero.

"Well, as you said, except for the fight it was easy. They checked my knowledge and how I seal things away. Nothing really complicated with my back story you know." The thing was, it could be interpreted in two different ways. Mom understood about my previous life, Kakashi-san understood how I began learning fuinjutsu ever since I knew how to think. Well, the two go together anyway by now.

"When are you gonna have the results nee-chan?" A beaming Naruto asked me with a toothy grin. I smiled back at him and ruffled his hair.

"Soon enough they said. I thought you were against me taking that test?"

"Yeah but if you pass at thirteen then I can brag about it to Sasuke-teme!" I gave an embarrassed chuckle at that and glared daggers at the mocking face of Kakashi-san. I don't think I would beat Itachi's genius with that, but let's not break Naruto's hope.

"Talking about Sasuke, how was school today?" I stood up as I said that and climbed up the stairs with my baby cousin, leaving mom and Kakashi-san between adults. Once we reached his room, I took the frog cuddly toy and sat on the floor. Naruto did the same, minus the squeezed frog against his body.

"Like every other day. But because you couldn't come to pick us up, Itachi-nii came and showed us some shuriken moves! He's much better than you are nee-chan!"

"Hey! I thought we agreed on never commenting my bad aim when I bought you with ramen!"

"When did that happen?" He replied with big puppy eyes and a huge toothy grin. I sweat dropped. Was that what Kakashi-san used to see when I was the brat? Gosh, that was scary.

"You're a cheeky brat, aren't you couz'?"

He puffed his cheeks and snuggled against my side. How many time, since we moved, have I found him in my bed in the morning, or just outside my bedroom door in the middle of the night. At the beginning it was that, he would get up because of nightmares or things civilians would have told him during the day, and because of my not yet rusted ninja senses, I would open my door to find him, in pajama, froggy nightcap and that soft toy in his arms. He would looked unsure of whether I would kicked him back in his room, but once I dragged into be with me once, he stopped asking and just did it.

Not that I minded anyway. Kids need love, and even if I knew mom and him were close too, Naruto wasn't stupid enough to not see she needed to sleep at night more than I did. As a silent rule between us, when she wasn't on a break, I was the one Naruto would bug in the middle of the night.

"Nee-chan, from where do you know that guy who's with Aunty right now?"

"Hum? Oh, I met a long time ago. Don't mind him for now."

"Okay..." he mumbled.

Don't mind your future sensei for now Naruto, you'll have plenty of time to annoy him later. Like him when he'll creep the hell out of you because he will be saying weird shit like 'I like you'.

But...reading porn in public doesn't really help him at not being creepy when he says that.

* * *

"Oh, that's a lot Hokage-sama." I noticed, looking at the full storage room. "Mito-sama sure didn't come empty handed, did she?" I glanced at the room. The bookcases against the walls were full with books and scrolls and there were boxes around the table at the center of the room full of personal belongings. "What am I allowed to look at already?"

"From what Tsunade told me in her message, she said that any Uzumaki crested books and scrolls could be consulted as it would be more useful to you than to her." He explained calmly, his pipe between his lips. "Some of my ANBU will stay by the door and you are not to take anything out of here. However, you can take notes."

"Thank you for this opportunity, Hokage-sama." I thanked him and bowed. He nodded and left me at my business.

Okay Akane, let's do this. Because I realized something. Although I had all of my memories from my past life, the memories of the me at that age are still really fresh. So basically, my theory was that my 'souls' were mixed together and the oldest won the right to be prominent. But sometimes I would have headaches. Like bad headaches because my memories would clash between themselves, some of the blurry one becoming much more clearer. Hence why I remembered so much of my time in Kirigakure when I passed so much time trying to forget it. Hence why I would felt some mental wounds that had taken a lot of time healing still wide open.

Add the therapy in which I had to talk about why Minato-oji-chan and Aunty Kushina brought me in the village years ago and you get a fucked up teenager.

But back to business, I was looking through the bookcases. Or more like what was in them. Even if I needed one about forbidden techniques of the clan, I also could gather every little piece of information about my origins. Not that my mother couldn't tell me anything, she told me a lot and told Naruto things here and then, but she didn't have the whole Uzushio library in her mind.

That was how I ended up with like three books and two scrolls on the table, a notebook and pencil in my hand. Time to get serious.

Time to consider stopping my younger cousin from becoming a shinobi so that he could be a masseur and soothe my sore muscles after researching so much. I could convincing him by paying Ichiraku forever, right? Becoming the Hokage wasn't _that_ big of a deal, right?

Screw that, I'll pass the night in the bathtub.

But still, I managed to pick up things, here and there. I started to write normally, but then the paranoid side of me took over, and I wrote in fuin. I didn't want unwanted eyes to know stuff they shouldn't.

With that in my pocket, I left for the day and started to walk home. The sun was already leaving the sky, an orange gleam illuminating it. If you forget the fools living in it, Konoha is a pretty village. But when I was nearing the Yamanaka flowers shop, I saw a familiar Uchiha leaving it. Another thing that was weird since Fugaku-san came was that I felt like I was seeing Itachi _everywhere_. Like, I was going to the library, he was there. With Shisui? He would _appear_ from nowhere to get him to train with him. Grocery shopping? He would buy _tomatoes_ for Sasuke in the exact same shop than me. His excuse ' _Sasuke loved the tomatoes they sell here_ '? I didn't believe it. That was stalking!

Or my paranoid side popping up again. Anyway, we had made eye contact. I stopped thinking about Itachi secretly stalking because that was just plain _stupid_ and he probably just had a therapy session, and I took a deep breath. I was getting used at seeing him alive and differentiate him from my dead lover, so I decided to act civil.

I waved at him, and from the puzzled look on his face, he wasn't expecting it. But should I be hurt I saw him glancing around to check if I was in fact waving at him?

"Good evening Akane-san," he told me right in front of me. I jumped and put a hand on my pumping heart. For fuck sake!

"Don't do that again!" I scowled at him, trying to stop gasping. He scared me badly.

"Sorry." He didn't sound sorry at all though. He just blinked and I swear I saw a spark of satisfaction in his dark eyes. I knew I was ignoring him but still! It wasn't a reason to give me a heart attack! But, when I was thinking about it, old Itachi would casually tease me quite a lot. Like, he wouldn't show it, but he would always have something to say to contradict me to make me contradict myself, that douche. "I need to pick up Sasuke at your place."

I raised an eyebrow and I mumbled an 'okay' under my breath. He was walking slightly in front of me, enough so that people would not think we were together. And all the way, I stared at his back with narrowed eyes. Yeah, suspicious, I know, but that was weird. Sasuke had nothing to do at my place at that hour today, especially if I wasn't there. He would not come just for Naruto's beautiful blue eyes.

When my house appeared in our sight, I relaxed a little. No matter how old he was, Itachi had this weird aura that said he was hard to approach. He was giving the feeling he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, which made it quite hard to talk to him. Plus, he had the natural Uchiha look, so...basically the 'I'm-better-than-you-don't-piss-me-off' look. He also had a deadpan look that I never managed to master.

"Congratulations," I heard him say. I raised an eyebrow at him. "I heard from my father you passed your exam so..."

"I passed?" I cut him and stopped in the middle of the empty street.

He stopped too and slowly turned his face so that he could look at me properly. He stared blankly at my face for a couple of second, and when he realized my surprise expression wasn't faked, he widened his eyes a little.

"You didn't know?" He asked me so low that I almost didn't hear him.

"Nope. Now I do. Is that why your brother is at my place?" I replied and enjoyed a little bit too much the clear 'oh shit' in his eyes. He mechanically nodded, probably cursing himself in his head. I smirked at that. "Yeah, I'm the best! Let's go!"

Itachi's footsteps followed me once I was leading and I was tackle hugged by the second coming of the Yellow Flash at the door. Sasuke looked a little bit more reserved behind, Kakashi-san sitting at the dinner table and mom busy in the kitchen.

"Nee-chan!" Naruto enthusiastically called, raising his head to look at me with awe and waved a sheet of paper under my nose. "Look what you got in the mail!"

I blinked and really did try to read it, but Naruto was moving it so fast I couldn't. Sasuke seemed to notice as he came and snatched it away from Naruto.

"She can't read it if you keep moving it around dobe!" He said and gave me the paper. I thanked him and whereas another verbal clash was starting between the two, I smiled at the official diploma in my hand.

"You should thank me, if I hadn't been going easy on you you would have failed." Kakashi-san taunted me as I broke free of Naruto's grasp.

"Oh please, you wish it was thanks to you." I replied with a smug smirk on my lips. I didn't wait for his reply and glanced at Itachi over my shoulder, who was awkwardly standing outside. "Come in, you'll have the joy to brag about it to Shisui once he's back from his mission."

The prospect of annoying Shisui must have had its effect, because he came in and closed the door behind him, Sasuke stopping his fight to talk to him. Uchiha or not, best friends would never miss an opportunity to annoy each other. And knowing Shisui, I knew who was winning that battle and by far.

"Mom, your daughter is awesome!" I yelled, waving my diploma in the air.

"I wouldn't go that far!"

"Mom!"

* * *

 **Thanks for reading ! And feel free to leave reviews ! Thanks for the reviews.**

 **nevvy** **: He, Shisui's misplaced concerns? Could you be more explicite please ? ^^ And Akane could possibly be wed to Sasuke, but to Shisui too. Only Jashin knows.**

 **sarana154 : Why wouldn't they be together? In my head the pairings are still wavering :D**


	10. Konoha Arc: Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I own any OCs in this, the rest is Masashi Kishimoto. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Characters age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 14**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 9**

 **Shisui: 18**

 **Kakashi: 23**

* * *

So...I was hired to be Hinata's personal tutor or something like that.

Which meant that Hanabi had already been appointed heiress. To be fair, I must agree with Hiashi-san says Hinata is too nice to be a clan leader. It doesn't mean she is weak though, but her eight-year-old mind would not comprehend that that way. And with Hiashi-san's behavior...well, that's none of my business. The thing is, I was Hinata's tutor to teach her some fuinjutsu. The orders were: find what she can be good at and teach her.

I wasn't complaining, I was paid for that. And the Byakugan was useful when it came to breaking a seal. Why? Well, the method to break a seal is simple. Chakra is circulating within a seal, but there's always a point where the flow is weaker. Usually it's from where we put chakra. The classic method is to let your own chakra in the seal to find where the weak spot is and then you break it by overpowering the seal's chakra by your own.

At least, that's how you do it when seals aren't on living beings, because it's something else then. But, the point was, the Byakugan was useful to find the weak chakra spot and break the seal. So I was training her to do so.

"This," I explained, showing her an explosive tag. "is an explosive tag, very common as a weapon for shinobi. They're also the most basic and neutral seals you can find. I won't ask you to understand what's written on it because then it wouldn't be that easy, but you can deactivate it once it has been activated. Even if you Byakugan can keep you out of enemy trap, sometimes you won't have any other choice than to go in."

She nodded and Ko lead us to a private ground of the Hyuuga compound. Better not use explosive tag in the main house backyard, right? So once we reached it, I realized it probably was like the Uchiha training grounds if not smaller. Yeah, Shisui dragged me there too, and there was Sasuke practicing his shuriken jutsu. Itachi was on a mission I think.

"Because that's the beginning, you don't need to care about deactivate it now, you just have to use your Byakugan to find the weak spot." I told her and smiled to reassure her. She was cute and would become beautiful later, but for now she was shy and too insecure.

"To see chakra in inanimate objects needs a sharp Byakugan Sasaki-san." Ko reminded me once again with a sigh.

"Oh right. Why do I keep forgetting that?" I muttered under my breath and facepalmed.

"I...I can still...try, Akane-sensei"

"Let's do that, if you can't do it we'll work on your Byakugan."

Teach her fuinjutsu my ass. With my little display with Kakashi-san, Hiashi-san just wanted me to make his daughter stronger now she'll be a Konoha shinobi first. But he didn't tell me that because I'm not a shinobi here.

But gosh I loved being called 'sensei' a little bit too much.

* * *

Days passed, and Sasuke and Naruto were starting a new year at the Academy, Sasuke's ninth birthday coming quickly. It meant they were going to graduate in three years as Itachi and I turned fourteen. And on that side, apart from that time where I got my diploma, it's still as sterile as ever between us.

Oh, and main event in my life. I ended up as a teacher at the Academy for initiation to fuinjutsu. As it is a complex discipline that not a lot of people choose as a specialty once they were shinobi, I was asked to start initiating kids the year above Naruto's year. It's like an experimental year for now, as it is obligatory for the whole year. But if it works, next year, I would teach Naruto's class, the Rookie Nine, whereas those I'm currently teaching will have the choice between continuing fuinjutsu or stopping it. Because I'm not a shinobi there were some teachers who were skeptical, but once I showed up with my Intelligence Division jacket and my diploma they shut up. Turns out that my diploma is one a few manage to get, and it's mainly when there were experimented shinobi.

I even beat Aunty's record. And oji-chan's record. Technically, I cheated but that still count!

But the surprise on my cousin's face when he saw me at lunchtime was worth it. Sasuke's too. I learned they were hanging out with each other at the Academy too. Always bickering, but together. Therefore, because Shikamaru and Choji were like, the only kids who would be friendly with my cousin, Kiba didn't really count because he would just brag, Sasuke started to talk to them a little.

Also, I had the surprise to meet Hyuuga Neji. The one who died to protect his cousin and my own during the war. I didn't know a lot about him except he used to hate the Main House of the Hyuuga, but I was not expecting such coldness in the eyes of a ten years old.

All of this to say...

"My life is busier than ever!" I whined and let my head fall on my desk with a loud 'bang'. I grunted at the laugh coming from the open window and turned my head to look at them. But my cheek was still flat on the wood. "Shisui, that's not funny! And I'm too young to be a teacher anyway!"

"You're teaching that Hyuuga girl." He reminded me with a smirk.

"That's not the same!" I cried dramatically and got up to take my bento box. "I can deal with one. But twenty of them? It's...stop making fun of me!"

I took a piece of chalk and threw it at him. His laugh just became louder and I blushed in embarrassment. Terrible aim, why do I even bother trying? I put my jacket back on and walked up to him.

"You said you wanted to eat lunch with me because we can't see each other a lot with your missions and my job, so what are we waiting for? Body flicker us away for an hour!"

"Sure mom." He taunted me and put an arm around my waist. I squeezed my eye shut when he started moving and let out a huge breath a relief once we stopped on a tree branch, very, very far from the ground. I sat and opened my lunch, whereas Shisui chose to lean against the trunk. "So, how does your research go?"

"Hum? Oh. I think I understand what happened but I'm not sure yet, I would need to talk about it with my mom. But if I'm right, I might know why we became so famous with our sealing techniques." I said, spotting Hinata spying on Naruto. And Sasuke because they were eating together.

"Unveiling the secret of what made them so famous. Nice Aka-chan." He smirked down at me, smirk I returned. If he knew what I learned...

"Yeah, but it's kinda dark actually. I knew we are good at sealing any kind of stuff, but I didn't think they'd make pact with...never mind, I don't want to spread assumptions around."

"Are you even allowed to tell me this?" He asked me with a frown.

"Are you allowed to tell me what's going on within the Uchihas?"

"Now I am. Part of. And you're much more involved than you should have ever been anyway by now." He replied with a shrug.

"True, but you're alive so shut up. And you're the one who took the risk to bring me here, so you're allowed to know. To a certain extent."

He crouched with a raised eyebrow. "Oh? I'm hurt."

"Don't care," I hummed, blinking innocently at him, "I won't tell you a clan secret."

"I see." He pouted briefly and went back to his previous position. He crossed his arms over his chest and glanced at the kids. "What do you think of Sasuke?"

"Sorry?"

"I mean...do you think there is still a chance he might leave the village?"

"Who knows? From now on, there could be another reason as to why he would want to leave. I guess that making sure he knows he'd break too many things if he does so is the best we can do for now. And trust Naruto. No matter what the context is, if there is someone who can talk some sense to Sasuke it's him."

He seemed to muse over it and nodded thoughtfully.

"You care a lot about him, don't you Shisui?" I inquired with a grin.

"The bond he shares with Itachi...I don't want it to break." I furrowed my brows when I saw how nostalgic his eyes were. It was almost as if he knew how it was to have a sibling.

"Aren't you an only child?"

"Now yes. My older brother left in the middle of a battle during the last war and we never heard of him again." That...was unexpected. I never knew he had a brother. Ma, I hadn't really had the time to fully know him before. Another thing to my bucket list, but a happier one: get to know Shisui! He knew my secret after all. "Hey, don't give me that look! That was a long time ago!" He laughed it off and I realized I was looking down sadly. "Now I'm thinking about it, tomorrow I leave for a two-month mission."

"Two months!?" I yelled and stared at him with wide eyes. He winced at the volume of my voice but I didn't care. I would almost be a year since I arrived, and Shisui knowing my condition had been the one I leaned on the most. Probably the reason I didn't lose it yet. Now I'm used to this time but still...

"I'll be fine, don't worry." He told me with fondness in his voice. "Oh, when are you going to face Itachi by the way? It looks like you can now."

"I can. I don't know how."

"Just apologize," he suggested me, getting on one knee next to me. He took my chopsticks and ate one of my fried shrimp. "not bad."

"Thanks, but I cooked it for me. And Naruto because I made his bento. Not for you Uchiha."

"Next time make me a bento too!" He exclaimed with a toothy grin. Well, at least the gloomy atmosphere disappeared.

"I'll have Naruto make it. Want some disgusting ramen?"

With the face he made, it was a clear 'no' and it made me laugh. He joined me seconds later.

He's strong. He'll be fine.

* * *

A month passed since Shisui started his mission. In that month, I unveiled the secret of that kinjutsu. My mom just confirmed my thoughts, as she suspected part of the secret for some time now.

As you know, Uzushiogakure and the Uzumaki clan in particular were known for having a long life. They created thousands of seals, most of them lost by now. However, no matter how good of a Seal Master you are, creating a seal, a powerful one, takes time. It took me ten years to fully master that dojutsu seal of mine. Between knowing if it works and controlling it to make it harmless or not takes a lot of time and control, especially when you don't use paper at some point.

You could say that having your boyfriend not really see you is a good motivation.

Almost not passing the second task of the chuunin exam because of the sharingan too.

With that huge longevity came a strangely powerful chakra. The Uzumaki clan and the Senju clan were distant blood relative, and from what I found, when our ancestors were still pretty close related, one of them realized his youth would not last forever. And working and creating seals take a lot of time, time an old person won't necessarily spend working. So, he used his strong chakra to summon an entity from another world.

Yeah, that Shinigami.

That guy, I didn't find his name so let's call him the Summoner, made a pact with the Shinigami through his chakra and own blood. In exchange of half his life span and his soul when the day would come, his soul would be thrown back at a point of his life. A certain point of his life.

The one which predated his biggest regret in life. For the Summoner, it was leaving his wife for a time to fight and came back to see she had been murdered and that her corpse were half eaten by crows.

Very graphic huh.

The Shinigami accepted for his soul was bound to end up in his stomach the day he died, no matter if he summoned it or not. The Summoner was able to save his partner and while he got a family of his own, created many other seals. But the day arrived that he died, during a battle with his brother because the wife he saved had betrayed him by falling in love with his brother. When the Shinigami appeared, the Summoner asked him if the soul of his brother could take his place as he deserved eternal damnation more than him. The Shinigami did not care as long as the soul had a strong chakra and blood like the Summoner.

As he died, he went peacefully in the afterlife while his brother was digested for eternity in its stomach.

That was the story of that kinjutsu, and how so many seals were created so fast. By having a second chance.

But it does not stop here.

With the wars raging, many Uzumakis felt regret. Those were the one chosen to be sold the to the Shinigami to make the clan stronger. But they were not careful enough. When one would not deliver the soul of a close relative in their place to the Shinigami, they were sent in its stomach, and the next person to summon it would have to stock the soul of the previous one in their seal.

Why? Because the pact linked the one to summon to the summoned one. If they does not break the seal at one point in their life, they would live with a seal representing the Shinigami's stomach.

Confusing huh?

When one would give another soul to the Shinigami, it meant they were given the opportunity to break the seal anytime, and the soul of the relative would then, erase the Shinigami's stomach. From any souls he had gained at that point. Of course, anyone would break the seals immediately.

From what I learned, bearing souls does not really do anything, except occasional pain if one is extraordinary. Or more like the chakra is extraordinary.

That was basically what happened. I sold my soul to the Shinigami, who felt I had a lot of regrets letting Shisui go that day. Because after, I always thought that, if I followed him, I would have had Danzo arrested because of his creepy way, my friend would not have died, my mom would have been in Konoha and I would have never met Sasori and gave him my trust just for him to kill my mother. The man I loved would have had a chance of not being a pariah. Sasuke would not have been traumatized and I could have offered a family to Naruto much earlier. In exchange I gave him half my lifespan. So...I have a regular lifespan now. Not that I cared about that fact. It was just that technically, I had...oji-chan's soul in my seal. Very, very strange.

And I had to free my soul from the Shinigami. Oh, I would not give mom's or Naruto's soul, no no no, too easy. I had at least one other close relative somewhere. I just needed to find him and free myself or keep the seal and deal with the consequences of my actions.

That technique was created to create more seals in the beginning, but ended up being one to fix what you thought were your mistakes. It was from a good intention but turned into a really dark technique, as I read it, some would carelessly use it because of some grudges. So, when Uzushio was founded, it became a forbidden jutsu. They had more than enough seals to make them one of the strongest clan in the world and did not need any other 'sacrifices'.

Of course, those not bearing the Uzumakis blood and chakra would not have enough to offer to the Shinigami to throw their souls back and will end up in its stomach for eternity, until they were released.

But now I knew how I ended up here, I had two things in my mind.

One: old Sasuke told me how Orochimaru freed the souls of the Hokage. In theory, if my seal represented the stomach of the Shinigami, if he were to wear that mask and cut his stomach open, the same thing would happen to me.

Two: a certain sentence gave me shivers. From what Mito-sama wrote herself, a friend of hers used that seal to save Tobirama Senju, the Nidaime, from being killed in battle. But she also wrote that ' _the one who uses that seals will carry the weight of what should have happened to their close ones on their shoulders_ '.

Nice right? Just...wonderful.

But now something was clear.

I was _selfish_ in my previous life.

Now was the time to be _selfless_.

* * *

"Hey midgets, how far are you in chakra control in class?" I asked them, reading on a branch of the tree in the backyard whereas they were both practicing calligraphy beneath me. It was summer and the weather was nice to make them work outside.

"We can stick leaves to our foreheads, why?" Came Sasuke's answer, who didn't even look at me. I ignored Naruto's mumbles on how he still could not do it.

"What about we stop fuinjutsu a little to discover you chakra nature?" That got their attention as they both looked up. I got down and sat in front of them. I raised a finger and the voice I used in class came out. "You are aware that in the elemental jutsu, you have five categories right?"

"Fire, Wind, Water, Earth and Lightning." Sasuke responded immediately whereas Naruto was completely lost.

"Yep. Because you can use the Fire Ball Jutsu, you have obviously a Fire affinity Sasuke, like all the Uchihas."

"So why do want to do it with him too?" Naruto asked with crossed arms and puffed cheeks. I pressed one and smirked when he pushed my hand.

"Well, you do not know this as you have not graduated yet, but one of the required thing to become a jōnin is to at least have two affinities. It is a very common thing. I've even heard that the Sandaime can use all five of them!"

"Jiji can do that!?" Naruto yelled with wide eyes whereas Sasuke did not seemed convinced. I smacked him on the head.

"Do not underestimate a Kage Sasuke. So, as I was saying, what if you knew what affinity you have? That will help you once you are genin." Sasuke's and Naruto's eyes lighted up at the prospect of learning new jutsu. "Okay, I need to get things first but I'll let you know when we will do that."

As soon as I said that, a Hyuuga appeared in the tree.

"Hey Ko, what's up?"

"Hiashi-sama requested your presence." He told me and left right away. Asshole. He didn't even apologize for intruding like that. It seemed like the legendary Hyuuga politeness didn't apply with me. Or he's hurt I made him play tag with Hinata to improve her Byakugan. Or because I made him hide a lot of stuff with me around the village to improve her Byakugan. He's like my reluctant assistant.

"Well, that's it for today children," I announced and stood up, stretching myself in the process. "I can't make them wait so behave until Itachi or your mom comes to pick you up Sasuke."

"I thought you were all coming over for dinner tonight?" I cursed under my breath. That's right, Mikoto-san had been bugging my mom for days to know when she would be free so that the three of us could come over for dinner.

"Right. Well, you both stay here and you don't open to strangers okay? You'll tell mom I'll join you there. Don't break anything!" I yelled as I put my shoes on and left, slamming loudly the door behind me.

Hum...the four hours I have per week with Hinata were done, so that was something else. I didn't like that, not at all. And I've been feeling sick all day. It was becoming a recurrent thing and it was just getting worse.

Just great.

I took a deep breath when the Hyuuga Compound came into view. I walked with confidence over the two guards, declined my identity and followed another Hyuuga. At my surprise, it was not at the Hiashi-san's house, or even in what I came to know was the Main House's quarters. We ended up in the middle of beautiful houses, but smaller.

Everything was the same, but smaller.

That was the Branch House's quarters.

We stopped in front of one of the biggest house and a servant opened the door. She rushed to a room, a bedroom, and I gaped at the sign in front of me. Oh, it was not the stern of Hiashi-san, or the old man who probably was his father next to him. It was the old man in the futon on the floor, and the Hyuuga seal on his forehead. Look, I knew how it looked like. It was green.

This one was crimson red. And it looked he was in pain. He was sweating streams and his face was frozen in a painful expression.

"I am no medic," I told them as I quietly walked forward. The elder shot me an icy glare but I could not care less. I had to keep a cool temper and not return his glare and say out loud what I was thinking. "what do you need me for?"

"I told you about about the cursed seal. We need you to check his." Hiashi-san instructed me as I kneeled next to the bedridden person. I put my left hand on his forehead and formed the tiger sign with the right one.

The cursed seal could destroy the brain cells. By frying them. They're kinsmen, but they treat the Branch Members as their dogs. And right now, I could feel that the seal destroyed too much. His brain was beyond repair, thus the crimson color it had taken.

I stopped my analysis and clenched my fist.

"That seal has been used for generations, hasn't it?"

"Yes, and we will keep using it." The elder answered gruffly. I did the best I could to not scowl and set my eyes on Hiashi-san instead, who seemed more open-minded.

"That man, is he important?"

"The Branch House elder."

"He's as good as dead."

I heard someone gasping but the only thing I saw was Hiashi-san painfully closing his eyes.

"The Branch House heads and elders, how closely related are they to the Main House?"

"Close."

"I know you know that this seal can destroy brain cells, but did you know that appending a seal, especially one like this, directly on the brain is synonym of slavery and is basically _forbidden_? That seal cannot be removed. When a seal is placed on a living being you need to make sure there is a way to _remove it_." I said coldly, trying my best to keep my anger from rising. I saw the elder opening his mouth and I beat him to it. "As I said to Hyuuga-sama before, I do not care about how this clan deals with his kekkai genkai. However, as the Seal Master that the Clan Head decided to call for this case, I need to be blunt with you. That seal is alienation, and I would not be surprise if, in the case of Branch members who are not closely related to the Main House, they would be like hypnotized when their duty are mentioned. When closely related, they can speak up their mind, even if after the seal is activated, they still have the freedom of thoughts."

"Please, Sasaki-san," Hiashi-san said, raising him arm to silence the elder, "explain us what you mean by it is 'forbidden'."

"Fine," I sighed and made myself more comfortable, "a seal is made of chakra. There is a rule that says that when a seal is placed on a living being, it must be linked to the chakra system of that being so that the two chakra mix. Placing a seal on an organ is extremely dangerous and not recommended as the chakra in the seal can slowly burn an organ. You can think of it as, when something is out of the oven, you need to put on a glove to avoid burning your hands. Right now, none of them have gloves on. Even if you don't do anything, the cursed mark is slowly burning their brain. That's why when a seal needs to be put on an organ, there is an extra layer fill with healing chakra that has to be recharged. Were there any Hyuuga who died of insanity?"

The lack of answer was enough to make me release an angry sigh. What recklessness, use a seal you do not know the full impact on the human body. I used my finger to point at the old man next to me.

"The seal must have turned that color to say that man has reached his limits. He's nothing more than a vegetable now."

* * *

I glanced at the entrance of the Uchiha compound with glassy eyes. They put the old man to sleep, there wasn't any other option at that point. But I didn't know why I let that touch me so much. A clan is family, but they still would treat them that way. I knew it was bad, but that...that was much worse than expected.

"What are you waiting for?" A stern voice asked behind me. I turned to see Fugaku-san standing there.

"I was lost in thoughts, sorry."

"Hn. Follow me."

And I did, staring thoughtfully at the ground.

"Fugaku-san, can I...ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"As a clan leader, the most important...is it to protect your dojutsu or your clan's members?" I asked in a quiet voice. I guess this old man's condition and to think he was not the first one increased my distaste of powerful clans.

"From your questions and how you look lost, I'm guessing you're returning from the Hyuuga compound?" He replied, not giving me an answer. I made a small noise confirming his conclusion and I heard him sigh. "I can't give an objective answer, as the sharingan disappears when an Uchiha dies unlike the Byakugan. But, for your own good, do not get involve between the problems of the Main and Branch Houses of the Hyuuga clan."

"That's my intention but...it doesn't mean it can't anger me."

"I have never said that." He said as we stopped in front of a huge house. Actually, I avoided the Uchiha district as much as I could. The Uchiha opened the door and muffled voices could be heard. "I'm home!"

"Ah, welcome back," Mikoto-san greeted him when she appeared in front of us. She smile warmly at me. "and hello to you Akane-chan. We were waiting for you two to arrive." She informed us wheres I muttered a quiet 'hello' while taking my shoes off. I followed them to their dinning room, where mom, Naruto, Sasuke and Itachi were already sitting. Fugaku-san, as the head of the family, sat alone on one side, whereas Sasuke and Mikoto-san were in front of mom and Naruto. Guess who was in front of Fugaku-san and next to Itachi? Yep, me.

The conversations started and were more animated than I thought they would be. The adults were talking between them, with Itachi's occasional interventions. I think that mom, having a better control over her temper than Aunty Kushina, had a better chance to get along with Fugaku-san anyway. And she was friend with Mikoto-san already. As for Naruto and Sasuke, they were calm. Even my cousin. Mom must have told him to behave.

However, I was spacing out for most of the meal. The truth behind the cursed mark of the Hyuuga and my body slowly telling me something was wrong exhausted me more than I thought.

"Akane-chan, do you want me to cook you something else? You barely touched your meal." Mikoto-san asked with worry, making everyone look at me. I gave her a faltering smile and was ready to answer but Fugaku-san beat me to it.

"She's probably just tired."

I nodded and ignored my mother's sharp eyes on me. And Naruto took that as a chance to steal half of my food. I rubbed my neck and stood up.

"I'm sorry but I'm going home. As Fugaku-san said, I'm exhausted and wish to have a reunion with my bed. Thanks for the hospitality and the food Mikoto-san." I bowed apologetically and walked away. I shoved my hands in my pockets once I was outside and stared at the ground. It was twilight already. I could feel nausea coming.

"I'm walking you home Akane-san."

I raised my eyes to notice Itachi walking next to me. I didn't feel him coming, when did I even feel him coming, and did not say anything. I just kept walking. For long and silent minutes where I could only think of a the wonderful meeting my face would have with my toilets once I was home.

"Something is really bothering you." Itachi stated next to me, not even glancing at me.

"What makes you think that?"

"I've been walking next to you for ten minutes away from your place and you didn't try to run away from me." He explained smoothly, stopping in the middle of trees. Oh, we were where Sasuke trained at his shuriken jutsu.

"Do you want me to run away now?"

"That was just an observation I made thanks to your usual behavior around me. I don't know what's bothering you but you should not keep it for yourself."

"I have to keep it for myself idiot, that's called confidentiality." I spat and frowned. Oh, I was losing my temper. Bad, bad move. His eye twitched, barely but I was it. "Oh, am I getting on your nerves now? Then don't stick your nose in my business!"

I was truly losing it and he frowned deeply. I turned away and started leaving but a kunai grazed my cheek. My eyes turned icy cold, what the Bloody Mist taught me resurfacing suddenly and I ran to him at full speed to punch him. He caught my fist, and if it was surprise I saw in his eyes, it disappeared as soon as it appeared.

I jumped back when his grip on my fist loosened up a little and went back at him, throwing punches and kicks at him. He blocked them. But as I went faster at him, he ended up using his sharingan to avoid my blows. As flattered I could be that Itachi thought I was an opponent worth his sharingan, it made me explode. This, would make him blind one day. Even though he probably hadn't awaken his Mangekyo Sharingan yet, it was too...

The Bloody Mist style taijutsu Yagura-sama taught me? I lashed it out on him. And it was not like the taijutsu taught in Konoha. I mean, in Kiri, Konoha-nin were called Konoha- _softies_. Because it's just so laughable a village that privileged team work when you're from a village that privileged success. And the success of a mission means to make sure no one is going to come back.

That's the Bloody Mist for you.

So it was logical my taijutsu was _violent_ , _brutal_ and aiming at the weak points of the human body. Joints, places where bones were not protecting the organs and the spots that could incapacitate your enemy, even just briefly. That was enough to kill. And Itachi noticed that, as he started to adopt an offensive posture.

I didn't know how, it was probably because my movements were unpredictable. Maybe it was because my brain wasn't responding anymore and that my body was acting on his own as if the sharingan was a deadly threat. But in any case, I had him cornered against a tree. I punched him in the face, only for my fist to hit the tree when he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

But my body kept going, punching the tree as hard as I could. My body was evacuating all the anger I had accumulated. Not just the one from the Hyuuga, but...I didn't know which one, but I was evacuating my anger and it felt good. I never lashed out like that against Kakashi-san during our spars.

"FUCK!" I screamed with one last blow and I rested my back against the tree, sliding along it to sit on the grass. Itachi approached me carefully after having witnessed the show and sat next to me.

"Are you feeling better now?" Ah, so that was his plan. Making me lose control.

"Yeah..." I mumbled quietly. I brought my knees close to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. Maybe now that he saw like that was the time for me to apologize. "I..."

"I don't know what you've seen today, but you should not let it bring back painful memories." He told me and stole a glance at me. I widened my eyes. Was it...what I was doing? But with wh...

Oh.

 _Oh_.

The therapy was supposed to help me, but what the Hyuuga clan does to its Branch Members made me remember...my father. How he turned arrogant about his own capacities. How he thought he could be the one to bring peace during the war, even though he had already fled Kirigakure. How he was ready to kill anyone who could give away his secrets.

"I hadn't realized it...how did you..." I started and fought the lump in my throat.

"Yamanaka-san's therapy sessions...are harsh."

I would have never made the connection if our role were reversed. Itachi...he sees much more things in people than I thought.

"Thank you Itachi." I said softly, staring at the grass. "And I'm sorry. For being such a bitch to you all this time. You didn't deserve it." I shot him a quick glance and hid my face in my knees when I noticed his surprise face. And his surprise eyes staring at me. "You...you reminded me a lot of someone I lost a long time ago and..."

"So that was the reason then," he whispered softly and sighed, "I forgive you. Sasuke seems to really be fond of you and of what you teach him, I wanted to make sure you were trustworthy."

"How what just happened could help you with that?" I asked with curiosity as I raised my head.

"It showed me you had things you had to deal on your own. Now that...I mean..." Was...he struggling to find his words? "Shisui and you are friends...would it be okay if...if..."

"If we get to know each other?" I finished for him and he nodded sheepishly. He...really looked like the introvert teenager he was right now. It was weird. To see him without that facade he could have built. "You're really bad at human interaction, aren't you? Well, I did give you the impression I hated you so the way you're acting right now is quite logical." Was it a slight blush on his cheeks? "Okay, let's do this. I love cuckooflowers and I used to hate water when I was a kid. I was scared but someone knocked some sense into me. Well, I'm from the Land of Water, so you better fight your fear of water!"

"You're not from the Land of Fire?" He asked, dumbfounded.

"Nope. And you should bring me home because your plan made me even sicker."

He frowned and put his hand on my forehead, his other hand on his own. I closed my eyes. It was not because it was Itachi, or anything like that. But his hand was cold and it felt good.

"You're burning."

He created a clone, probably to tell mom, and the real one pulled me on my feet. I let out a gasp of surprise when he carried me bridal style.

"Itachi! Tell me beforehand if you do that!"

He shrugged and I rolled my eyes. Yep, that was what I thought.

I felt absolutely nothing for him. He was carrying me, I was close to him but nothing. Why? Because that, that was a kid. I fell in love with old Itachi through scars, pain and sadness. This one? Nothing. And I want it to keep it that way. Not because falling in love with him again repelled me that much, but I would make sure the scars that brought us together in my past life would stay mine only, and not his.

Right now, he was such a sweet kid.

He left me at my place and went home when my mom and Naruto came back. He asked me to rest.

Two days later I was admitted in the hospital, screaming bloody murder because I was burning from the inside.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading ! And feel free to leave reviews ! Thanks for the reviews, following and putting this story in your favorite.**

 **nevvy** **: I'm glad you like the fighting scene ^^. There's tricky because, I'm used to write in French and there's always the question of 'will they understand what I mean?' And we have a long way to go if Itachi ever starts feeling things for her, but now they're on friendly terms! Isn't that awesome ?**


	11. Konoha Arc: Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I own any OCs in this, the rest is Masashi Kishimoto. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Characters age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 14**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 9**

 **Shisui: 18**

 **Kakashi: 23**

* * *

It hurt.

It burned.

And it was from the inside. It was the seal. It was acting up and I did not know _why_.

"MAKE IT STOP!" I shrieked at the top of my lungs, my body only registering that I was in pain. I tried to scratch my exposed and brightening seal but hands kept me from doing it. Tears were freely pouring from my eyes and I fought back. Why wouldn't they let me scratch my seal to make it stop!?

"Akane, stop it!" I faintly heard my mother's voice screaming at me and a foreign chakra appeared in my seal. I tried to push it away, but people were keeping me pinned to the table.

"DON'T TOUCH IT!"

It hurt.

It hurt.

It hurt!

Please someone, anyone...make it stop.

Please.

* * *

The Dead Demon Consuming Seal. His soul was supposed to be in a stomach for eternity. He was sure it had not been eternity yet when he felt the void and pain disappeared and troubled feelings pouring down on him more and more with passing time. He did not know how long it had been since he swapped the void for a white space.

He heard a satisfied growl at the back of his head and frowned. Something bad was happening. He knew it, he just felt it.

So he started walking. Forward, the more he walked the more the feelings were intense.

He widened his eyes when he spotted a body on the ground. Was he not supposed to be the only one in here? How could someone be in here with him?

He stopped and crouched next to the person to turn them around. A teenage girl with auburn hair and a pained expression on her face. She blinked slowly and he froze. How long had it been for her? How long had it been for the living? That was her once five year-old goddaughter, he knew it.

How long had it been since Kushina and him died during the Nine Tails attack?

"Aka-chan..." He called her softly, not truly believing what he was seeing. She blinked at him, a dazed gleam in her brown eyes. Now they had a red undertone to them and no innocence anymore. Then, she widened her eyes and got up abruptly, putting as much distance between them as she could. Pointing a shaking finger at him, she tried to form words.

"You're dead!" She managed to yell at him.

"I know that and I'd like to know why you're in front of me right now. Please tell me you're not dead."

"It happened just once Minato-oji-chan." She replied and lowered her finger. Now it was his turn to be shocked. What did she mean by 'just once'? "They said there could be complications if one of the chakra was exceptional...what happened? What went wrong?"

"I don't know what you're talking about but..." he started and gulped when he met the fierce eyes of his goddaughter. "I have half of the Kyubi in me."

She blinked sheepishly at him.

"What in the what!?" She cried out and started pacing in front of him with crossed, in a way that reminded him of Kushina. "Why the fuck did nobody tell me you became a fucking jinchuriki before you died!?"

"Language." He couldn't keep himself from scolding her like he used to do, but the unimpressed look she shot him made him realize it would not be efficient. He was dead, she was alive, and she was the one who seemed to know things.

"Don't scold me like a little girl! I'm thirty-seven for god's sake!" He furrowed his brows in confusion. She looked like a teenager. "Of course you don't know what I am talking about! That's that forbidden jutsu that threw me here in the first place when I should have died! This jutsu is not supposed to fucking kill you god damn it! It will kill and seal those who are not part of the clan!"

* * *

"So you see," I said and gasped for air after my explanation about the seal, "that's what's supposed to happen. Now that I know you have the Fox in you, I get what's been happening. I'm a human being, he must have sensed his other half and tried to make his way through me."

Minato's frown deepened and his eyes became serious. I still could not believe it. Oji-chan was right in front of him, exactly how I remembered him to be. Bright spiky blond hair, warm blue eyes, sun-kissed skin and his famous Yondaime jacket. His face had gotten blurry with time, but now, with him right in front of me, I could spot every similarities between him and Naruto.

"I think that's the reason why I started to feel your feelings more and more, my seal was weakening, probably because I am sealed inside of you now. We need to close it." He stated and I nodded absently. "You must have become skilled, can you do anything from here?"

"No. I could but I can feel mom's chakra. It's blocking me, she's the only one who..."

"Then let's trust your mother. She is talented to figure this out. Now we can talk."

"Huh?" I shot him a puzzled look when he smiled warmly at me and I felt a heartache coming. That...that's something I never thought would happen one day. I admit I was jealous of old Naruto when he told me he had met his parents but... "I hate you." I blurted out. His smile fell and pain flashed through his eyes.

I clenched my fist and threw myself at him, punching his torso repeatedly.

"You fucking died oji-chan, you died! You told me mom and I would have a good life in Konoha with you Hokage but you died! We couldn't come to Konoha with Danzo around and...and...Fuck, Hoshigaki-san kidnapped me on the order of the Mizukage when I was eleven! I was turned into his student and I became a kunoichi of the Bloody Mist! Do you know what their D-rank missions are!? It's not chasing a cat, it's clearing fucking corpses of people who were against the regime! Do you know how hard it was to be seen as a weapon for two years!? Then...then Shisui saved me but he died too two month after! And the Uchiha clan was killed because they were hated and they hated back and prepared a coup! And...and I trusted an asshole and he killed mom and I was all alone! Again, I was all alone! And I fell in love with Itachi, but he died too and left me pregnant! I had twins right after the Fourth Ninja War and went back to Konoha and I was happy you know? I was finally happy, because I had Naruto and he accepted me right away, and Kakashi-san wasn't a jerk anymore and the twins were growing and I loved them so much! I loved them so much, and Boruto and Himawari, and Sarada, and Shikadai! I had formed bonds but we ended trapped and my son was there and Sasuke couldn't do anything and I thought that technique would work so I used it! And I found myself staring at Uchiha Shisui because he was alive and I panicked and told him everything and...and..."

I ended up sobbing against his chest, his arms around me as I felt like a five years old again. He tried to soothe me, but it made me cry harder because I missed him so much. I missed my godfather, I missed Aunty Kushina. I missed my childhood and it was so hard to see him again after so many years.

He was still dead though.

"You've had a hard life, will you forgive me?" He asked me in a guilty voice. "I never thought things would turn this way."

"Of course you didn't." I replied and snorted, wiping my tears away. I stepped back a little to see him. "But I missed you oji-chan."

"I hope so." He chuckled lightly and it managed to make me crack a smile.

"You know, Itachi told me once you know who you are when you die. I wasn't happy with the answer. I...I was so selfish back then. I hated any representations of the shinobi world so once I left Kiri, I tried to forget anything related. When I went to Konoha and met Naruto, I realized it had not been fair on my part. Because I resented him you know? He wasn't at fault, but I did and I still regret it today. That's why I...I was selfish before and I don't want it to happen again so I try to be the best nee-chan for your son, and even Sasuke. I became the Uchiha and Hyuuga Seal Master. The Uchiha massacre did not happen and I found myself in an engagement to an Uchiha to calm the elders. Danzo has been taken care of but..."

"It's okay to be selfish sometimes."

I looked up at him and noticed his teary eyes.

"Sorry, what you said is slowly sinking in." He laughed it off and wiped his tears with his sleeves. "That's a lot. That's too much even for one person to see people who used to be dead alive once again."

"You have no idea." I sighed deeply. I'm okay now, but the beginning was tough.

"I do. How you've been feeling since you're here, in this era, I've been feeling it too. I didn't know what it was but now it's clear. You're terrified. You're terrified of losing them again, you're terrified for what you left behind, you're terrified of what you know." I gulped and fought to keep my hands from shaking. "And that's okay. You mentioned a war."

"Yeah...About that...the one who will start and the one responsible for the Fox attack...they're the same."

"Do you know who he is?" He asked me sharply, anger filtering in his voice.

"That's the thing...oji-chan...it's Obito..."

Bomb dropped. Shocked Minato.

"He wasn't dead. Madara Uchiha, he didn't die against the First, found him and healed him. Obito saw Kakashi-san killing Rin and...and he went back to Madara and helped him for his plan to put everyone under a genjutsu. He...he succumbed to the Curse of Hatred and he...I hate him." I spat and clenched my fist in anger. "He will steal the biju and..."

"Is he gone too far?"

"Naruto is an orphan!"

"Akane, calm down and forget everything he did. Do you think he is too far gone?" He repeated calmly, even though I could see he was torn between anger and guilt.

"I know you're his sensei, but he has already done things that will get him killed when it's discovered." Konoha and Kiri would never forgive him. "Kakashi-san told me he changed of side at the last moment in the war but...I won't forgive him."

"There is still hope then." He whispered and I frowned at his guilty eyes.

"You're dead, regrets or not, you can't do anything." I said coldly and he winced at my tone. But it was true. I knew he had a part of responsibility. I mean, even if it was the war, he was their sensei. Now Kakashi-san was still in depression, even though it was less than before, Obito was plotting to destroy the world and Rin was dead. Those I would call 'Rin-nee', 'Kakashi-nii' and 'Obito-nii" were killed during the Third Ninja War.

"I can. If we can't prevent him from stealing biju, then we can steal them back." He refuted firmly. I blinked, puzzled at what he said. "I can teach you how to execute the Eight Sign Seal."

* * *

"What do you mean you see the chakra of the Nine-Tails!?" Akiko spat at Hyuuga Hiashi. The seal on Akane was not wavering, but it was being corrupted by something. "How is that possible!? Naruto has that Fox inside of him!"

"Only half, Minato sealed the other half in him before he died." The Hokage informed her and she cursed under her breath. Now she understood. Akane's body couldn't take Kyubi's chakra, who must have been trying to reach his other half in Naruto.

The good thing was that at least, her seal had not showed any weakness so far. A pact with Death itself was stronger than anything apparently. But now, how could she keep that demonic chakra from hurting her daughter that way? She would need to strengthen the already existing seal.

Akiko was a Seal Master, she would find the good technique soon enough.

Akiko was a mother, and she did not want to lose her daughter again.

On the other side of the village, Naruto was watching Sasuke and Itachi throwing shuriken. His cousin was in the hospital and had been for three days. His aunt had sent him to the Uchiha for the time being because she was taking care of her daughter. Naruto understood that, but it was not appeasing the dread in the pit of his stomach. He had a family now and he loved them from the bottom of his heart. He used to be alone and now he had a motherly figure and an older sister. He adored them. So when he heard Akane screaming in pain in her room, when he saw her curled up on the floor, clenching her stomach in pain and tears running down his face, he had been utterly frightened.

The fear of what people told him at school or in the street was nothing next to that. Next to the fear of losing family.

What if his sister did not wake up?

His eyes got teary and he hid them behind his sleeve. Akane would not want him to cry, so he would not.

"Naruto-kun, she will be fine." A voice told him softly in front of him. He peeked at Itachi and snorted. "Akane-san will get out of the hospital quickly and will be back at her usual self."

"Really?" He inquired in a quivering voice.

"Yeah."

"Are you sure nii-san?" Sasuke asked him quietly, his eyes boring holes in the grass. "Nee-san will be fine?"

"Trust her. She's stronger than she looks, and she won't leave the two of you for too long." The oldest reassured them as much as he could, even if he was doubting his own words. He was fearing the moment Shisui would return the following week.

* * *

"I don't want to use it." I mumbled, executing the last sign. "I don't think I would handle making a jinchuriki."

"I understand, and I hope you will never have to use it. It's..." He did not finish his sentence that he touched his stomach with wide eyes. I started to feel lighter and looked at my hand, to notice it becoming transparent. "Akiko has succeeded."

"Already? But..."

"We do not belong in the same place anymore, you know that." He reminded me with a sad smile. He stepped forward and wrapped me in a fatherly hug, that I returned immediately. "I'm glad I had the chance to see you, even if it hurt you. Thanks for taking care of Naruto for us, Kushina and I will forever be thankful to your mother and you." I nodded as new tears came to my eyes. "No matter what happens in the future, don't hesitate to say out loud you're scared. It's okay to feel that way. Remember you can't always save everyone even if you know things." The feeling of his arms around me started to disappeared. "I love you Akane, I've always seen you as a daughter and Kushina too. I regret not seeing you and Naruto grow up but I believe in you."

"Thank you oji-chan." I whimpered and I etched his smile as much as I could in my memory before I vanished.

* * *

"That's done." Akiko announced as she allowed herself to relax. She made a Four Symbol Seal to lock the demonic chakra and prevent it from sliping out of the Shinigami Seal. But as it was on an existing seal already, it drained almost all of Akane's chakra.

"She will need a lot of rest to recover her chakra." A nurse informed her.

Naruto jumped on her when she told him Akane was out of danger and needed sleep. The child had been worried sick since she was admitted in the hospital.

Akane was not aware of Minato's condition, she was sure of it. She would have told her that she would end up in pain at some point. There had been nothing. Akiko knew her daughter, she must have thought it was a persistent cold and kept it to herself. How come nobody told them? Saying she was not mad at the Hokage would be a misconception. Even if he was surprise none of them knew about it, especially with Akane's special case, she was mad.

But her daughter was out of danger.

At least for now.

Only God knew how she could attract unwanted attention and troubles to herself.

That, that was definitely an Uzumaki thing.

* * *

"Shisui is going to kill you."

"Because I so wanted to be in the hospital and sleep for two weeks." I said sarcastically and pouted. "I'm surprised he didn't come already."

"He was injured in his mission." Itachi told me and sat in the chair next to my bed. He eyed me with a deadpan expression. "When I told you to rest I didn't mean in the hospital you know."

"I thought I would bring it to a whole another level you know?" I replied with a smirk. He scoffed at me and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'm regretting asking to get to know you Akane-san."

"Shhhh!" I shushed and put a finger on my lips. "Don't mock someone in an hospital bed and drop the '-san' already, we're the same age. I'm just from April. Anyway, I hope Naruto was not too much of a handful."

"Except for him and Sasuke bickering almost non-stop, that was fine. He did mention your terrible aim though and asked me to show him tricks to reach his target." He explained to me.

"If I try to tell you I'm not that bad, you believe me?"

"Sasuke confirmed it."

I crossed my hands behind my head and turned it away from him. He was such a big meanie inside, no matter what. A fucking smart ass. But a smart ass who would go very far for peace. I was glad we could prevent the coup and the massacre. Civil wars were the worst, the ones where civilians are victims. I would always remember the night the Kaguya clan attacked when I was just made chuunin with my teammates. Blood, fire and death everywhere.

"Are you okay now?" Itachi asked more quietly. I hummed at that and stole a glance at him. Yep, he was trying to hide it, but I knew he was worried. Too bad for him, I knew him better than he would ever know.

"Yeah, I recovered most of my chakra. I'm just being lazy to get as much time off as I can right now."

"Somehow I know now why Shisui and you get along so well."

"You're wondering how you can put up with the two of us now huh?"

He sighed and I let myself have a laugh. Too bad for him, he had to deal with it now. I was about to tell him that when someone knocked shyly on the door. I told them to enter and Hinata and Ko appeared at the doorway. And Hinata was holding a box! A box of food I'm sure! She flushed when she realized I was staring at her and stepped forward when Ko gave her an encouraging push in the back. Did I mention Itachi and him were like, staring at each other?

Because they were. Uchiha and Hyuuga...urgh.

"A...Akane-sensei, I hope...you're okay now I...I made a ben...bento because..." She stuttered, blushing even harder when Itachi looked at her with his usual blank face.

"Because hospital food is awful! Hinata, you're an angel! Thank you so much!" I cried and took the box handed to me. I quickly took a bite and hummed joyfully. "That's so good, you're a great cook!"

"Thank you sensei!" She beamed and bowed deeply at me, happy I praised her. Well, she was talented so that was not really rare. Himawari looked so much like her mom. The two were adorable.

"Ne Ko, do you by any chance know when I would be released? You should know, I mean, Hyuuga-sama must want to know when I can get back to work with his daughter, right?" My toothy grin and smart ass question was a combo that would always exasperates him. But, he shook his head in defeat.

"In three days. I hate it when you do that Sasaki-san, it's annoying." I blinked innocently at him and he rolled his eyes.

"Nee-chan!" Naruto screamed when he opened the door. And ran to the bed and climbed it with ease, Sasuke and Mikoto-san behind him. I shot a glance at Hinata, who was tomato red and looking between Naruto and I. Oh, she didn't know we were related I guess.

"Sorry Hinata, I've never told you Naruto and I were distant cousin, have I?" She widened her eyes and shook her head. Naruto snuggled against me, his arms around my neck.

"You're my big sister," he mumbled softly and I rubbed his back, my food in my other hand, "not cousin, sister nee-chan."

"Yeah, sorry." I looked at Sasuke, who was almost glaring at Hinata next to his brother. Ko sensed it and moved closer to his charge. Before I could say anything, Itachi poked his forehead and gave him a look that said to behave. He pouted and turned to me.

"Are you alright nee-san?"

"Yep." I emphasized the 'p' and nodded to prove my point. "You didn't cry, did you?"

"Pfff, no!" He denied and frowned as if that was the worst thing I could do to hurt his manly pride. He pointed his finger at Naruto. "He did! When we were training with shuriken he cried and said that maybe you'd never see him becoming better than you!"

"Hey!" And their bickering started again and I started to sulk. Would they ever forget I was bad at shuriken jutsu?

Would that be how I would be remembered one day? As the girl who couldn't touch her target even with ten kunai?

* * *

 **Thanks for reading ! And feel free to leave reviews ! Thanks for the reviews, following and putting this story in your favorite.**


	12. Konoha Arc: Chapter 12

****Disclaimer: I own any OCs in this, the rest is Masashi Kishimoto. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.****

 ** **Characters age:****

 ** **Akane, Itachi: 14****

 ** **Naruto, Sasuke: 9****

 ** **Shisui: 18****

 ** **Kakashi: 23****

* * *

Okay, so Kakashi-san was obviously avoiding me. Well, I got out of the hospital and I laughed my ass off when Shisui almost had a heart attack because of Itachi calling me 'Akane' and how I was nice to him and not bitchy. Yeah, he had missed a lot in two months. And he kept complaining on how I ended up in the hospital in a very bad state when he was away. He also pestered Itachi and I to know how we ended up on good terms.

He busted into laughter when Itachi told him, with his pokerface, that it was because he pissed me off for good and I attacked him. Hey, we all have our own way to bond with people okay?

But still, why Kakashi-san would avoid good little old me? That was simple. I wanted those special papers which tell you you chakra nature for Naruto and Sasuke, and I thought Kakashi-san would be able to get me some. And he could.

That ass just didn't want to. It was already taking me a lot of time to actually find him and corner him in my free time, but he would just ignore me and bodyflicker away from me. So, I had an idea. What could make Kakashi-san react?

His kohai. Hopefully.

And my targets were right in front of me. I cackled evilly in my corner and joined them.

"Hello~!" I hummed happily. Kakashi-san rolled his eyes.

"No." He flatly refused when I was at Tenzo's level. The latter gave us a questioning look. I did not see Tenzo, so Yamato, often, but he was nicer than the silver prick.

"I'm not here for you. I'm here for senpai." And that got his attention. Yamato's too as he pointed a finger at himself with an astonished face. I nodded and grinned at him. "Do you mind me calling you senpai?"

"No but..."

"You're not a ninja Akane, Tenzo can't be your senpai." Kakashi-san said and put his book away.

"Don't care. Ne Tenzo-senpai, would you mind doing something for you kohai?" I asked as sweetly as I could. I think being called 'senpai' had a nice ring to it because he started smiling as he shook his head. "Great! See, I'm teaching things to my cousin and his friend and I wanted to test their chakra nature, but Kakashi-san doesn't want to get me some papers. I'm not a ninja so I can't buy them. But I thought 'Hey, Tenzo-senpai could, he is much cooler than Kakashi-san after!'. And that's true! I mean, Mokuton!? Please, it's much more interesting than some lightning! You're cooler!"

"Well," he started, holding his chin with closed eyes. He nodded thoughtfully but I picked up on the fact he was playing along with me. "I can't say it myself because he is my senpai but if someone thinks so, who am I to disagree with them?"

"Oi..."

"Exactly!" I approved excitedly. "And you don't read weird books in public!"

"Hey."

"Yeah, I know right..." He told me and raised a hand so that Kakashi-san could not see our mouth anymore. "I swear that sometimes he's laughing weirdly when he thinks he is alone."

"And he always thinks he's superior to anyone, seriously when I say you're cooler..."

"STOP!" We both glanced at a wide-eyed Kakashi-san. Oh, did we hurt his pride? "I'll buy them just...shut up!" And he left.

"Senpai," I started with a satisfied smirk, "it was a pleasure to work with you."

"Don't mention it!" He chuckled. "That was my pleasure too."

Moral of the story? I got my papers. And Kakashi-san made me say that he was still the coolest shinobi around. Yeah, I had a good laugh.

* * *

"The Shodai's name was Hashirama Senju you dobe!" Sasuke snapped at Naruto and broke his pencil in half. He was stressed recently.

"Everyone makes mistakes!"

"Hey hey you two, calm down!" I scolded them harshly and they lowered their eyes under my glare. I was trying to grade works gosh damn it! "Sasuke why are you on edge?"

He frowned and glared at his glass of juice. Fall was there, already, and Naruto had turned nine. There was a small party, where he smiled all along. Shisui turned eighteen and introduced us, Itachi and I, to his newest girlfriend. Have I mentioned he seemed like the kind of guy who wanted to enjoy his youth as much as he could before settling down? Because, believe it or not, Itachi and I, we argued on what her name was because we didn't really listen. He had the right name, that douche, and I had the name of his ex.

"Nii-san left on a mission and he broke his promise. Again." He grunted and clenched his fist on his pants. Itachi...that guy really needed to stop promise things to his brother.

"Can't you ask your dad?"

He shifted in his seat after Naruto's question, and I frowned. That was weird. Even if Fugaku-san was to refuse, Sasuke would not have trouble asking him. Maybe it was some kind of secret jutsu between brothers?

"Nii-san told me not to..."

"Sasuke, what did Itachi promised exactly?" I cut him sharply. He seemed to measure if it was safe to tell me as he stared with uncertainty.

"Nee-san...you remember that night when Shimura Danzo kidnapped us?" I nodded. "Well, what I had at my eyes was...the sharingan."

"That thing I saw Shisui-nii-chan do the other day?"

"Naruto, you keep everything you hear today for yourself." I ordered my cousin, who looked lost. "Your dad doesn't know about it?"

"Nii-san told me to keep it quiet until I knew how to use it. But I haven't been able to activate it ever since."

I glared at Naruto when he opened his mouth and he went back to his homework fast.

"You'll get a hold of it one day Sasuke. All in good time."

"That's easy for you to say, you don't have a father who only sees your brother Akane!" He snapped at me and I gaped at him. Never had Sasuke called me anything else than 'nee-san'. "You don't know how it is to be in the shadow of a genius all the time!" He ran away. I stood up and shot a look at Naruto.

"Go nee-chan! I have homework anyway!" I gave him a smile and left too.

It was not as if an Academy student would give me trouble to find him. I was not the best sensor ever, but I was average. And because of his anger, Sasuke's chakra was wavering a lot through the crowd in the street. I sped up, found him, grabbed him and, while he was struggling against my grip, took us to Minato's rock face.

"Let me go!" He railed against me but I just sat on the rock, Sasuke's back against my chest and my arms keeping him in place.

"Now you shut up and stop acting like a little punk. You can't just blow up at someone's face and leave as if your life was the saddest life around here."

"You know nothing! You don't know how hard it is when Father only sees Itachi! I thought it would change when you started teaching me fuinjutsu, but it was just for a while! Why can't he see me!? Why can't I be like nii-san!?"

"I don't know how it is to be an important figure of clan because mine is dead Sasuke. You know about that." He went silent at that but I could still feel anger radiating from his body. "You're not your brother either. You'll never be your brother." I gritted my teeth when he tried to get up but I kept him in place. "And that's okay. Because Itachi and you are two different people. There's no point in trying to be him. It's not because you don't rise to the top as fast as your brother that you won't be as good as him in your own way. But I gotta say that you're wrong on something."

"Oh yeah?" He scoffed and I rolled my eyes. You bet he'd be a moody teenager.

"I totally understand how it is to be in your older brother's shadow because he is a genius who reached your kekkai genkai at a young age."

That got his attention. He raised his head to me.

"You don't have a brother and you don't have a kekkai genkai. Everybody can learn fuinjutsu."

"And who told you my whole life story midget? You know nothing about me. If you don't believe me when I say I have a brother, then follow me. I'll introduce the two of you."

He stared at me for long seconds, as if a second head was growing on my body. But he ended up standing up and followed me. I saw him looking around in curiosity as we moved in Konoha, and his face falling when we reached the Konoha cemetery. His footsteps became slower as I walked with familiarity between the tombstones to finally kneel in front of one in particular. I joined my hands and closed my eyes when I felt Sasuke stopping behind me.

"Onii-chan, this is Uchiha Sasuke. Sasuke, meet my older brother Sasaki Fubuki."

"He..."

"Dead? Yeah."

We stayed silent for a while and Sasuke decided to sit next to me. I cast him a quick glance and noticed his pained eyes.

"What happened to him?" He murmured, all traces of anger gone. I looked up at the sky. Hum...I think therapy worked in the end, it looked like I could talk about it.

"What I am going to tell you Sasuke, I need you to promise that you will keep it for you. Don't even talk about it to Naruto. He doesn't know anything yet."

"I promise nee-san." I smiled faintly at him and sat instead of kneeling.

"I think that, even if you're only nine, you can understand a lot of things." He nodded. "Where to start...my brother, Fubuki, was Shisui's age. I loved him very much. And he could have been a powerful shinobi if we had not left the village I was born in."

"What do you mean? I need to know the context to understand!"

"Right, right...I'm from the Land of Water and I was born in Kirigakure." He widened his eyes at that. "As you know, my mother is from the Uzumaki clan. However, my father was only half Uzumaki. His father was from a different clan in the Land of Water, the Yuki clan. This clan has a kekkai genkai. They can use an Ice Release. And my brother was a genius. He could use his Ice Release very young and mixed it with seals. His best technique was to make it snow or hail and incorporate explosive seal in every snowflakes, even though he was only six."

"Is that even possible?"

"You're not the only one to have an amazing big brother. My father was a powerful shinobi of Kiri, from what I heard he could have been chosen as Mizukage if it was not for his stubbornness. But we left the village when I was one. Here's the thing Sasuke," I told him when he opened his mouth to cut me off, "Konoha is probably the best place to be a shinobi. The Land of Fire in general. The Land of Water used to be ravaged by civil wars, in which those with kekkai genkai would be extremely effective. But once they were over, they were discriminated and killed. My father decided we would leave Kirigakure and we settled down at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Hot Water. But here's the thing. Fubuki, for how strong he was, seemed to not have inherited the strong vitality of the Uzumaki clan. He developed a serious illness that would weaken his body."

"He died because of an illness?"

"I wish. You see, that was the Third Shinobi World War Sasuke, and there were fights everywhere. Kumogakure and Konohagakure were enemies, so shinobi from those countries had to cross the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Frost, these two nations becoming the scene of many battles. It wasn't pretty, and my dad ended up losing it, thinking that peace would never be in order with the system. Long story short, I was not as good as my brother and he tried to kill me when he failed to use me as a sacrifice for some big dangerous thing. My brother got between between me and the attack. Then I went to Konoha and met your brother and Shisui."

I heard him gasp a few times, but now it was silent. I turned to him and took his hands in mine when I saw his eyes full of despair.

"I guess that what I'm trying to tell you is that, you may be in your brother's shadow now, but you will be seen as your own person one day. Your father will see it one day, you just need to work on it. But until that day, enjoy your family and friends and do not resent them for what they can do. You're your own person, and you may find it difficult for now, but one day you'll be thankful for how you used to be shielded back in the days."

I flicked his forehead.

"It's frustrating, but the time will come where you'll shine too Sasuke. Trust me, I know you are bound to make great things and to be an awesome shinobi."

"You really think so?" Insecurity spotted.

"Yeah, just don't burn the ste..." I didn't finish my sentence that he had thrown his arms around me and was hugging me as strongly as he could. I hugged him back. "Hey, I believe in you Sasuke you know?"

"Thank you Akane." He mumbled softly against the fabric of my sweater.

"Anytime Sasuke. Anytime."

* * *

What was I doing here?

"Iruka-sensei, my classes are over you know, so why..."

"I know, I know Akane-sensei," How weird it was to have him calling me 'sensei' when he was older than I was. I looked around, Naruto's and Sasuke's class staring at us. "but I heard your knowledge of the Water Release was pretty good so..." Of course it was good, Yagura-sama wouldn't have had it any other way. He would throw his Tailed Beast Ball at me.

"That's not in my contract." I deadpanned at him, wanting to go home. I was finally understanding the secrets of the Hiraishin and was thinking of the many possibilities I would create later. "What do I gain in this?"

"That's..."

"Can you even fight? You don't have the Konoha headband!" A girl spoke out. Pink hair huh...my sister-in-law was a fangirl if I remembered well what old Sasuke and old Naruto once told me. Talking about Sasuke, he glared coldly at her and she looked at her shoes.

"I feel like I'm going to have fun with you guys in a few months." I stated and started a series of hand signs. "Suiton: Water Dragon Bullet Technique." A water dragon raised from the pond and they gasped. I stopped the jutsu and they were all left under the temporary rain my dragon caused. "If you all want to survive while being a shinobi, then you better not underestimate any opponent you have. Some will hide their potential in order to break your guards, and some others will just show a hidden power that could get you killed. For all I know, those of you who have good grades now could be weak shinobi later on."

"Thank you Akane-sensei, that would be all for today!" Iruka-sensei told me and took me aside, leaving slightly terrified children behind. I spotted Naruto and Sasuke talking in a hushed voice and Iruka-sensei blocked my sight. "Do not terrify the kids now!"

"What, it's true and you know it. If they judge people's strength on their appearance or rank now, they could be killed on some D-rank mission. I'm trying to help them."

"Yeah but..."

"Anyway, you owe me, don't forget it. By..."

I tensed and glanced behind me. An ANBU had just arrived.

"Sasaki Akane, the Hokage wants to see you."

"I can't make him wait now, can I?" I said as I followed the masked guy.

Well, I would have them in my class in like two month. I would turn fifteen soon too. And to be fair, I was surprised. Of what? That Kirigakure did not come yet. Ever since my conversation with Sasuke, I started thinking more about it and about what, or more who I left behind. Yeah, I hated being a kunoichi and being there, but...not everything was that bad. Here's a thing about the Kiri-nin. They were feared and had a cruel reputation, but it was facade most of the time. When I became a genin, the test at the Academy had already changed. I was under Yagura-sama's teaching, but had to pass the test. It's not some jutsu like here.

The first task is to fight against a recently made chuunin for ten minutes when they have the intention to kill. If you survive, good for you you go to the second task. If not, you're dead. Then, the second task is tough. Kiri had a huge rate of nukenin, and those who did not get far and had nothing special were kept underground. The second task was killing a prisoner. Just like suffering a killing intent was a part of the Academy program.

You can't let anything trouble you in a mission. You can't let your first kill keep you from completing the mission. Those who can't do it or who're traumatized don't pass. The others become genin. With the politic of how shinobi were weapons there, we had to build ourselves an expressionless mask to succeed. Some would forget who they were and would live as weapons, others would only know the feeling of killing and lose themselves in the process. And there were the others. Those who would let their mask off when they were not on missions.

Like Mei-sensei for instance. She was the person I would go to when Yagura-sama was just too much. It did not surprise me she would be the Mizukage later, it was perfect for her and for the village. Hell, she never hold it against me when I tried to run away from Kiri those five times. She was my personal tutor for my kekkai genkai, and once I was a genin she was my team's sensei.

My teammates too were people who would let their mask off. There was Dai Terumi, sensei's younger brother. Born on the same day in the same hospital than me. Unlike sensei, he had no kekkai genkai, just a water affinity. But he was an iryo-nin. It was useful for the wounds I would always had because of the Mizukage's training and for our other teammate when he was playing too much with his swords.

I was shocked, and sad, when old Kakashi-san told me Mangetsu was a part of the resurrected soldiers in the war. I did not know he was dead. Frankly, Mangetsu was probably my best friend of some sort. Being under the Mizukage's wing is the worst thing ever. People will be nice to you and talk behind your back because Yagura-sama was a bastard. If Dai was acting politely to me, it was for his sister's sake. Mangetsu, him, saw quickly I did not like being in Kiri. He confronted me and I told him I was forced to be there, to be a kunoichi when I did not want to fight. He understood that, that I had a different vision than him and respected it. That I would always showed up at training or on mission with wounds helped too.

I did not know how he died. How he could die, because hopefully he was still alive right now. Alive and training with Suigetsu. The brat.

I was shocked when I saw him at an Orochimaru's hideout when old Sasuke took me once. I was shocked when we were catching up together and he told me he was kidnapped by one of Orochimaru's men after his brother's death in mission. He was shocked I was still alive. Because he had been at my funerals.

So basically, I had a grave at Kirigakure right now.

My team was the only thing that made Kiri bearable. When they discovered the truth on how I came to Kiri, Dai and Mangetsu planned my fifth evasion with me. I had reached the border when Yagura-sama in person stopped me.

I wonder how they were doing. If Kiri never found me before, now there were more chances. I was a powerful weapon for the village, if they found out I was in Konoha, they would send the oinin without the shadow of a doubt, cut my head off, destroy my body and end of the story. That was what the Akatsuki did before. They were sent to get ride of us and Mom died. I wonder how they could proceed this time. Using the Akatsuki would be stupid if I am in Konoha anyway.

But still, I would only be half surprised if one day they found me. I had never gone outside the village at that point, but who knew what could happen?

I widened my eyes when we arrived in front of the Hokage's office. What...what if...I would not become the cause of a possible war, right?

"Why do you look so terrified when I did not say anything yet?" The Hokage with genuine curiosity in his voice.

"I'm paranoid, that's all..." I muttered, more for myself than him. "I told Naruto to stay away from paint and the cliff, he listened. What's happening?"

"Calm down, I did not call you here because of him. Fugaku and Hiashi gave me reports on your work with their clan and they're good. How is teaching going?"

"Well, I'll probably get a quarter of all the classes I'm teaching next year. Many don't control their chakra with enough precision and others just don't care." I explained coolly, my eyes following a bird outside. "They're too young to understand the beauty in seals."

"I guess so. But from what I heard, Naruto made some progress."

"Not in theory though. In sparring probably. I've seen him and Sasuke sparing once or twice. From the moment they end up in a team together with Sakura and Kakashi-san I'm fine with that." I shrugged and shoved my hands in my pocket.

"I have to say that the more I see those two, the more I think they would be good for Kakashi once he'll be a jonin." Oh, I guess it would not be long before it happened then. "Anyway, I have a mission for you."

"I'm sorry but you have a what for me?"

"A mission. Even though if you're not a kunoichi from Konoha, you are a Seal Master who resides here. As such, I am allowed to give exceptional task." He stated and took his pipe out of his mouth. Wow, I did not like where that was going at all. "Suna and Konoha are allied, as you already know. The Kazekage has asked to send one of the two seal masters we now have to check the seal on the Ichibi jinchuriki." Oh fuck it. "Your mother is busy, so you will go."

"Are you sure? I don't want Kiri to hear about me and..."

"I will send you with guards, do not worry about it."

I was going to meet Gaara? He was nice and a good leader, but from what old Temari told me, it was thanks to Naruto he changed. Before he was bloodthirsty because he let Shukaku have too much control over him. I did not want to die again!

"Sandaime..."

"Yes?"

"Would you let me take Naruto with me?"

His eyes turned dead serious and I gulped. Maybe meeting Naruto now would help him earlier so...that would be good? But the Hokage was scaring the shit out of me. Staring straight into my eyes and not saying shit.

"It takes three days to reach Suna, I'll be gone for at least a week. Naruto won't let me go that easily for so long, and as you said mom is busy. She won't be able to properly take care of him."

"You want to take the jinchuriki out of the village Akane-kun. That's too dangerous."

"Hokage-sama, it would be good for him to see the world outside. I'm sure this jinchuriki is hated in Suna too, he could use some interaction with someone who lives the same thing than him. And I won't let him loose control, the seal is too strong anyway."

"It's too dangerous, the council will never allow that."

"The council is not really..."

"Watch your word Akane-kun," he warned me coldly, "I may trust you, but the council is not in the same case. They're not happy with Naruto living with you and your mother. They are still mad about Danzo and think he was not entirely wrong, and it includes __you__ being used much like how it was where you are from. They think your presence here could get a war started one day with the Hidden Mist. As long as you do as I say, you are okay, but you are walking on thin ice. Do not push your luck." I nodded absently. "Fine. You will leave in two days for Suna with ANBU I will choose and stay until the Kazekage deemed you have done enough. You are free to go. And Naruto Uzumaki will stay here."

I left and breathed out deeply. I hated the council so damn much. All stuck in their own time and...I let a sigh of exasperation leave me. That was a drag.

But hey, did it mean I would meet Temari!?

* * *

"Suna!?" Shisui exclaimed with a dumbfounded face. "You're going to Suna!?"

"That's what I said."

"Naruto-kun and Sasuke won't be happy to hear about it." Itachi droned, spotting his dango arriving to our table. I made a sound of approving, staring outside. It would rain later in the afternoon. "Are you allowed to tell us more about your mission?"

"Nope. I don't want to get killed by the Hokage __and__ Kazekage." I sighed deeply. I was slightly scared of meeting Gaara to be honest. I cared about each limbs of my body. "It's a drag, I'm not good with hot and dry environment."

"It's the total opposite of where you're from." I nodded absently and felt Shisui averting his attention to his cousin. The latter did the same. "What?"

"You know where she's from? You became the best of friends when I was away or what?"

"Don't worry Shisui, you're still the only one in my heart. After senpai of course." I snickered at him and he furrowed his brows with fake hurt on his face.

"I'm not okay with being second. And you've already called me 'senpai', who's that one?"

"I called you that only once, and I'm talking about Tenzo. He's always up for annoying Kakashi-san with me." I informed them coolly. I always had these small crushes on my senpai actually. Tenzo because he's cool and would annoy Kakashi-san with me, Utakata-senpai because he's handsome, obviously. I jumped suddenly when I felt a hand on my shoulder. "What?" I snapped at Itachi, who was the one sitting next to me.

"You were spacing out." He told me calmly. Now he was used to my mood swings.

"Ah, sorry. I think I'll go home, to get ready you know. Bye guys!" I waved at them from above my shoulders and left the place. Suna had a pretty decent level in fuinjutsu. They didn't need the Shodai to obtain a biju after all. But from what I gathered in my past life, the seal they used for Shukaku...not that it was weak, it just let a lot of power to Shukaku, and when the mind is already weakened...

* * *

"Gooooooo!" I screamed at the top of my lungs at the two ANBU waiting for me at the gate. I slided beautifully between the two and gasped to catch my breath. "Naruto...wanna come...followed me...gotta go...now..."

"NEE-CHAN!" A ball of bright yellow appeared at the corner of the street, far from us. But he was approaching fast. I grabbed one of my teammates hand and started running away. Again.

Naruto had been bugging me to tag along, exactly as I thought. Mom and I told him he could not come for hours but he would not have any of it. So, when I left this morning, he was waiting for me at the doorway. I spent ten minutes to try to lose him at some point but when I noticed the time I ran to the meeting point, Naruto on my heels.

Now that we were jumping from tree to tree with Kakashi-san and Yamato-senpai. I relaxed greatly, because Naruto was still in the village and I was not. Not that I was glad because of Naruot, but because I was outside Konoha. It was dangerous, but it felt good. To not follow the same daily routine for once was good. And...mom made me sign for my summon! Yeah! Now I could summon wolves! Even if Gaku was always grumpy and used to never listen to me in my old life at the beginning.

"Stop." Kakashi-san ordered us. I stopped of a thick branch and shot him a quizzical look. He took a kunai from his pouch and threw it with deadly accuracy behind us. A squeak was heard and Naruto's head popped out of the leaves.

"What are you doing here!?" I yelled, jumping in front of him. He flinched but I grabbed his arm harshly. "Do you know how risky that was!? You're not even a genin!"

"I wanted to come! And you're not a genin either!"

"That's different!"

"Yo!" Came Pakkun's voice behind me. I turned to see Kakashi-san whispered to him and he left in the direction of Konoha.

"If we go back to the village now, we will be late for the Kazekage and we can't afford that." He explained me when he noticed my stare on him. "We'll wait for the Hokage's orders."

"How come you didn't feel him coming?"

"I thought he would give up quickly." was the silvered-haired nin answer. I rolled my eyes and let go of my cousin's arm.

"Do you know how freaked out mom must be right now?"

He kept his head down as I kept scolding him. I hoped the Hokage would not kill me, because I was innocent.

Seriously.

* * *

 ** **Thanks for reading ! And feel free to leave reviews ! Thanks for the reviews, following and putting this story in your favorite. but except from that, I had my first week of class, second year of my english degree in college, and I couldn't write a single thing! So yeah, I'm not a fan of how the next chapter turned out and the updates may be slower in the futur. Because, college is important you know. and I'd like to go in the UK next year, so I should work seriously unlike last year x)****

 ** **nevvy**** ** **: Good to know you found it emotional, it means it worked ! ^^****

 ** **kankananime123**** ** **: In any case she won't end up with Sasuke, don't you worry about that one x) !****


	13. Konoha Arc: Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I own any OCs in this, the rest is Masashi Kishimoto. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Characters age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 15**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 9**

 **Shisui: 18**

 **Kakashi: 23**

* * *

Pakkun was traumatized when he came back. But the point was, we could not make the Kazekage wait for us and we needed to keep a close eye on Naruto because he would tag along.

"It's so hot!" Naruto whined when we reached the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers. I could make out a vast stretch of yellow in the distance.

"We'll reach the desert soon, of course it's hot Naruto. You really should pay attention in class." I told him, a kinda worn out. The heat was already getting to me. Anyway, he puffed his cheeks as we followed Kakashi-san and senpai in silence. I was mad at him for coming, he was mad at me for being mad at him.

Unsurprisingly, a Suna-nin was expecting us to be our guide in the desert. He even had goggles and cloaks for us. Still, he frowned when he spotted Naruto next to me.

"Forgive us for the unexpected member," Yamato started in a professional tone, "but when we realized he was there we were too far of the village. The Hokage sends his apologies."

"I see."

For once, Naruto's goggles were useful. Kakashi-san gave him his cloak and once we were all ready, we went in the desert. It was hot, it was windy, and after five minutes I was already sick of it. Hopefully, Naruto was complaining enough for the two of us, so that I would not look like a whining child. We crossed the desert for what must had been five freaking hours until the shape of Suna came to view.

"Nee-chan, that's Suna?" Naruto asked with eyes full of curiosity. "We are allied right?"

"Yes, and yeah. Suna and Konoha managed to make a truce at some point in the past. I'm not really sure of the details though." I replied with a nod.

"The Kazekage has requested your presence as soon as you arrived." The Suna-nin announced and gave a wary look at my cousin. "However, this is no place for a child."

"That's okay, I will take care of him." Yamato assured him. The Sand Shinobi nodded curtly and we reached the gates of Sunagakure.

It was big, with many ninja watching the desert. The village itself was within a valley, and once in front of the big cliffs that were used as the entrance, you could only be impressed. Even if there was a lack of color unlike Konoha. Here, everything was in yellow and brown tones. But well, Kiri...no, there was mist almost all the time but there was quite a lot of greenery actually.

As we reached the tower of the Kazekage, Yamato took Naruto with him. I went here once, old Kakashi-san had sent me here with Naruto for something. It would not really change in the future, except for the more wealthy look there would be. We stopped in front of a door and the ninja knocked.

"Come in." A deep voice said on the other side. Once inside, we met the stern face of the Yondaime Kazekage. He wore the standard robe of Suna and I could see the resemblance with old Kankuro. The spiky brown hair and harsh eyes. At least, that was the feeling his small irises were giving me. And the scowl. "Welcome to Sunagakure."

"Thanks for your hospitality, Kazekage-sama." Kakashi-san told him and we bowed in sync. "There has been a..."

"I am aware of the unexpected guest. The Hokage sent a message and one of my man came to tell me earlier. Arrangements have been made." He told us with authority. "You must be tired, I will explain to you what I'm expecting tomorrow. Until then, enjoy the village."

We both nodded and followed one of his men, to found ourselves in a hotel with Naruto and Yamato. To be fair, I did not want to know the reason why my cousin was glaring at my senpai.

And he talked about it once we were in our room anyway.

* * *

"We don't need any Konoha shinobi Kazekage."

I raised an eyebrow at the grandma in front of me, looking down on me. From what the Kazekage, Rasa if I had his name right, said earlier, that was Chiyo, one of the Suna elder and the one who helped seal Shukaku inside Gaara. Or more like inside of him when he was still in his mother's womb.

It was no surprise she was dead. When a woman was pregnant, her chakra would mainly go to the unborn child and thus, a seal could not work properly and would be unstable. So inside an unborn child, the chances he would be alive and healthy were almost non-existent. Gaara was a premature baby and it was a real miracle he was alive today. I could not say the same for his mother but...that was an atrocious thing to do. To seal a biju inside a pregnant woman.

But, once again, my mentality doesn't do well with that time. It didn't before either but...anyway.

"If we can prevent Gaara from killing more people then I will ask Konoha to send someone." The Kazekage replied with a glare for the old woman. She didn't care, obviously, as her attitude remained haughty. Guess I knew from where Sasori got it huh... "This girl is an Uzumaki, her fuinjutsu and knowledge is potentially bigger than ours."

"An Uzumaki you say..." She barely gave me side glance. "She could start a fight for no reason too."

Keep it down, keep it down, don't attack a woman with a foot already in the grave.

"Let me examine the seal or at least let me know which one it is and then tell me what you want me to do about it please." I interrupted them, the feeling of a coming headache getting stronger and stronger. Not just because of the situation, but because memories from this time would sometimes come back at me at random times. Now I knew I saw Rin, Obito and Kakashi-san more than once when I was a child, and it was a bit clearer than before. However, the old memories from my previous life were disappearing.

"Those youngsters these days do not know how to properly treat their elders anymore."

I twitched. That was kinda true. I mean, I would not stand a full hour with Genji-sama and his history lessons about the village. An elder of Kiri who had too much troubles walking, even with his demon staff if you didn't know.

But the Kazekage ignored her and started his explanation. I didn't know what to think of that guy. From what I was told, he was a shitty father to Gaara, maybe even more than my own, but he did that to protect his village. Once again, that's what I was told.

But the thing I got at a hundred percent was that I needed to approach an unstable Gaara.

Fuck my life.

* * *

"I understand that it is for my security, but I would rather do that my own way." I told the shinobi following me around.

"You don't get it, Gaara-sama could kill you in the blink of an eye."

"I didn't come alone, did I? We can deal with him." Senpai nodded next to me. "Show us the way please."

He gulped in front of my glare and lead us through Suna busy streets. I couldn't keep myself from looking around. There were, I wouldn't say plenty, but more than enough food in the stands, but it was a kinda on the pricey side. Which was strange, because I didn't remember it being that pricey when I came with old Naruto.

Anyway, we arrived in the park. I could see many children on one side, whispering between themselves.

"That kid is reckless!" The Sand-nin murmured in horror. I raised an eyebrow and turned my eyes to the other side of the park. I spotted Gaara on the swing, a teddy bear in his arms. But unlike my first thoughts, he did not look as sad or mad. Maybe the reason was the bubbly blond kid on the swing next to him. But the ninja did not move at all.

"Senpai is watching them." Yamato told me and I nodded. Just as you could expect from Kakashi-san.

"Well then, you can let us work from here." After I said that, I moved toward the two kids. Gaara spotted me first, squeezing his toy against him and glaring at me. Probably to hide the fear I might try to hurt him. Then Naruto saw me. He was not mad at me anymore because he shot me a beaming smile and waved.

"Nee-chan! I have a new friend." He yelled enthusiastically when I reached them. If Naruto managed to crack Gaara's shell at that age, it must mean it was not extremely thick yet. That could be good for me.

"Is that your sister Naruto?" A wary Gaara asked him. He was a cutie too when he was young.

"Yupe!"

"You don't look alike."

"We're distant cousin, but we see each other as siblings." I spoke out and ruffled Naruto's hair. I tilted my head on my shoulder with a smirk. "I hope Naruto didn't bother you too much Gaara. He can be..."

"I'm fine! Right Gaara!?"

He nodded shyly. I crossed my arms on my chest and looked up at the sky. It was the middle of the morning. And the best way to restrain Shukaku's power over Gaara's mind was to gain the latter's trust.

"Mind if I join you? Adults suck."

"Yeah! You can push us nee-chan!"

"Fine." I rolled my eyes and created a water clone. The clone went behind Naruto as I went behind Gaara, who seemed uncomfortable. "Are you okay with me pushing you Gaara?"

"Yeah..." But his sand didn't agree and tried to attack me. It grazed my arm and senpai appeared next to me, whereas Gaara was frightened and Naruto shocked.

"Well, that was a close one." I said as I eyed the bleeding wound on my arm.

"I...I..."

"That's okay Gaara, I saw you were not really comfortable with me. My bad." I chuckled when Yamato looked at my arm. I noticed the other children left the park in a hurry. Naruto seemed to have noticed too and frowned.

"Gaara, apologize to nee-chan and we can go back at playing. She's okay."

Gaara looked at him with wide eyes, then at me and murmured an apology. I grinned at him and waved Yamato off, telling him to join Kakashi-san. He did, and I went back to them, stretching my hand to Gaara. He looked at it weirdly.

"I want to be your friend like Naruto is. Can I?"

"Mother doesn't like you." I raised my eyebrows and Naruto laughed.

"You said the same thing to me when we met yesterday and I came back!" 'Mother' huh...did Shukaku feel Kurama inside of my cousin? And if so...did he manage to feel his other half in my own seal or is it just the deadliness of my chakra because of the Shinigami?

"I know, but Mother said..." He stopped himself and looked down. "He said rude things about your sister."

"Just spill it already. It won't do anything to me."

"Oh...then Mother said you were one of the assholes who think they're God." He told me, blinking rapidly at me. My eye twitched and I made some sort of forced laugh, that sounded more like a pig being killed. The two kids stared at me with worry and I crouched in front of him.

"My, Mother is a funny character! I wonder what does she look like. A turtle? A cat? Oh, a fox!"

"Don't insult Mother like that, she...hates it..." He mumbled and put his hands on his head with a pained expression. Oh, maybe I went a little too far.

"Sorry sorry, we probably don't find any fox around anyway. Hum...a tanuki maybe?" His sand attacked again and my clone stepped in and blocked it, turning into water in the process. "Okay, okay, I apologize."

"Nee-chan, you're impossible." Naruto stated with a deadpan.

"Hey, I'm not the one we need to keep from eating ramen at every single meal!"

* * *

After that event, I went back playing with them the two following days. Gaara warmed up a little, especially when I brought food with me. Of course, I was also studying the seal they put on the kid, but now I needed to see it in real life. He was staring at me as if I betrayed him. Being with his father must be the cause, because he was looking at him with pure fear in his eyes.

"Gaara, sorry for not telling you but I am not here to hurt you." But who knew, it could happen. Shukaku seemed to talk to him pretty often. Too often. "Do you mind if I examine you a little while you speak about Mother?" Hopefully, the Kazekage had just left.

"Why? Are you a doctor?"

"Not really but..."

"Then no. Leave Akane-san." His eyes turned cold and he raised his hand. I didn't know how, but even though we were inside, sand gathered at my feet.

"Your my cousin's friend. If I were to hurt you that would hurt him too. If you were to hurt me it would be the same."

"I don't care."

"Don't you? Really? Naruto is hated in Konoha too you know. People call him 'demon'. It hurt him, but here he is, making friend with you. You are alike you know. And he will be one of your best friend in the future, just like you, you will be a great man."

The sand stopped moving, but was still dangerously close to my feet.

"You have no idea Gaara, how important you will be in the future. How important your power will be and will help people."

"You're lying. It only hurts people." He said and shook his head.

"People will always hate. It is up to you to give them a reason to. That power you have, you can control it you know. I want to help you with it."

He stared at my face for long, long minutes. The sand started his retreat, but Gaara grasped his head tightly, moaning in pain.

"Gaara!" I rushed to him but he didn't let me do it. He raised his head and I froze. It was not the eyes of a child, it was the eyes of the biju inside of him. Fuck, did I make his instability worse?

"DIE!"

I was thrown against the wall and was sure I went through it to crash under the window in the hallway. I winced in pain when my head met the wall harshly and I felt blood dripping on my forehead. I saw sand approaching me fast and tried to dodge but it hit my left arm and snapped it with a loud noise. I barely heard Yamato said 'Mokuton' that I was fainting.

Oh shit.

* * *

"Gaara, that's okay. And the ointment you brought helped for my head." I told the child in front of me. I tried to move my cast to prove him I was okay but winced at the pain. "Okay, it hurts but I had much worse, so don't worry about it." Oh yeah, Yagura-sama in jinchuriki mode was worst.

He didn't look up. To sum up, I spent a night in the hospital, and spent the day after recovering. Gaara came with Naruto to give an ointment and ran away when I took it, Naruto going after him. Hopefully, Kakashi-san was always keeping an eye on these two. My arm was broken and I opened my head in the impact but I was fine, and went back to work. Actually, this had a positive outcome. Gaara seemed to have realized I did not want to harm him because I pretended nothing happened. My task moved on pretty well and now I knew that...I would need to reinforce his seal to keep Shukaku from impinging on Gaara's sanity. With luck, he would get a hold on how to work with Shukaku.

"We're done for today by the way, I'm sure Naruto won't mind playing with you at the swing." I informed him. He nodded, opened his mouth to say something and decided to leave instead. When I said there was a chance the crack his shell before a fight, I wasn't wrong. Naruto always had that kind of power on people I guess. Hey, maybe they wouldn't attack Konoha during the Chuunin Exam!

I stretched out and decided to walk in the village. We had been here for a week and a half, without counting the three day-trip. It was not my fault, dealing with a jinchuriki demanded a lot of prudence, even more if the biju had too much influence.

I stopped in the middle of the street and peeked behind me. Someone was following me, and with how they were not discreet, they were genins. I sighed and started walking again, making turn at every streets corners. Until I jumped onto a roof, ran and turned to face my follower. I blinked slowly when I recognized the sandy blond hair tied in four pigtails.

Fuck, I had a thirteen year-old Temari in front of me and she looked half pissed, half envious.

"You were following me, why?"

"How did you manage to get close to Gaara?" She asked at the same time. We both blinked at each other and I chuckled, which earned me a glare. She always had been the caring big sister after all. "Don't laugh or I..."

"Or what? You'll kick my ass? You're a genin." She just frowned at me and I took a step back. She was scary, even at that age! "Sorry sorry, I didn't want to hurt your feeling!"

"Answer my question!" Oh dang it. I sighed and ran my valid hand through my hair. It was dirty and I could feel grain of sand in it.

"Pay me something to eat and drink."

She must have really wanted to know because I found myself sitting in front of her, munching on a sand dango. That was okay, I guess, dango were not really my thing to begin with. I'd rather have takoyaki.

"How...hum..." I mused over her question, not paying attention to her twitching finger on the table. Or her stare. Or her whole behavior toward me. "My cousin became friend with him, so I tried to approach him as I would approach any shy kid." Ouch, that sounded wrong.

"He broke your arm."

"So what? He does not control what is inside of him. It is okay to be scared of him, but avoiding him will just make him even more unstable. That's what being alone with a lot of power do." I explained coolly and closed my eyes. "But well, unless you're crazy strong, it would be stupid to make a move now. Just look at my arm. I was reckless and that's what I got."

I needed to cut the relation between Gaara and Shukaku until the former was mentally strong enough to resist the tanuki's influence.

"Be patient, the day will come where he'll accept you, you know. Thanks for the treat, I gotta go. Bye." I left her and decided to go back at the hotel. I didn't want to say anything that could get her killed at the moment.

* * *

After two weeks, I temporary blocked Shukaku's ability to speak with Gaara and restrained him more. I didn't like it, but it was for Gaara's well-being. And it made me think really, really hard on bijuu-related fuinjutsu.

But I spent my second fifteenth birthday, aka my thirty-eighth birthday, sleeping to get my spent chakra back. Naruto finally managed to cut his paper with his chakra. So now we were ready to leave the village.

"Hey, next time come to Konoha Gaara, we'll go to Ichiraku!" My cousin exclaimed, placing his hands on Gaara's shoulders. His sand did not move. "I'll get Sasuke-teme too, and you'll help me beat him!"

"Do you think I could...?"

"Of course, you're my friend! I'll talk to Jiji! He can't say 'no' to the future Hokage!" He laughed loudly, his hands on his hips and I rolled my eyes. As a matter of fact, the Hokage could tell him 'no'. Yeah, hard to believe huh?

"Naruto...you want to be Hokage so that people will recognize you?" Gaara asked him. He seemed to be thinking of something.

"Yeah!"

"So...do you think I could be...Kazekage?" He said so quietly that only Naruto, and I who was behind him, could hear him.

"Of course! We'll show them one day!" Naruto proclaimed with determination. He stretched out his hand to Gaara, who stared at it for a while. Slowly, he raised his hand and shook my cousin's, who was giving him a toothy grin. Gaara smiled shyly at him in return.

With this, we left Suna. The first two days were relatively calm. But once the border crossed and my eyes getting accustomed to all the green around with absolutely no sand around, I felt something. Something weird, and Kakashi-san and Yamato-senpai felt the same too, because they were constantly on guard.

"What's happening?" I whispered at Kakashi-san. Even with his mask on, I could tell his eyes were scanning the area.

"I don't know, but there are more shinobi at the borders. Something must have happened."

"But what..."

"Stop!"

Gai-san landed in front of us, green spandex and everything. But his face was grave.

"Gai-san?" I called him and he looked up to see Kakashi-san.

"There was a conflict between Iwagakure and Kirigakure in the Land of Fire. An entire team from Kiri was killed but one. And it...it was one of the Seven Swordsmen."

My heart missed a beat. Could it be...could it have been the mission in which Mangetsu was killed? But now...he wasn't...I gulped but the lump in my throat did not disappear.

"Uchiha Shisui and his team had a mission at the same area and stopped it. The Kiri shinobi was rescued by his teammates later but...the relation between the three are tense. Especially between Kiri and Konoha as Iwa was the attacked one."

I widened my eyes.

That...that did not happen before. Because Shisui was dead, Mangetsu died too and end of the story. Fuck...what...I didn't provoke a war, right?

But even though, I couldn't help but be glad. Mangetsu...was alive. He...was alive.

A war might be coming, but he was alive.

We made it back to Konoha in silence, and I was confined in the village. It was because we couldn't give Kiri a chance to really wage a war on Konoha.

I knew something bad was coming. And I had another feeling. The one that was telling me I wouldn't stay Konoha much longer.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading ! And feel free to leave reviews ! Thanks for the reviews, following and putting this story in your favorite. Sorry too, I'm not a fan of this chapter to be fair but...yeah, I still released it.**

 **nevvy : Who knows how Sasuke will turn out?**


	14. Konoha Arc: Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes and sorry for the long wait.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 15**

 **Naruto,Sasuke: 9/10**

 **Shisui: 18**

 **Kakashi: 23**

* * *

"What do you mean 'Shisui is worried about something'?" I asked Itachi, standing on the swing. After we became friends, aka I stopped being a bitch, we slowly started hanging out on days we had a therapy session around the same time. That was mainly the reason why we became real friends. And because I was working at the Academy and he was on missions, it would be in the evening. Hence why we were in the public park where street lamps were our only source of light, me standing on the swing and I was...swinging, whereas he was sitting on the swing next to me.

"I don't know, I asked him and he changed the subject. Did you see him since you came back?"

"Nope. But he was part of the team which stopped Iwa and Kiri, right?" Could it be...no, they would have spied Konoha for some time for...

"Something must have happened then...I haven't seen him like that since..." He stopped himself in the middle of his sentence. I raised my eyebrow for the show but knew he was talking about the coup that I was not supposed to know about. "Nothing. Do you think you could try to speak to him tomorrow?"

"I'll try yeah, the start of the school year is the day after tomorrow," I said and jumped on the ground. "By the way, did you make it official? With Izumi?"

"Not yet. I fear my father's reaction." Yeah, he decided to give her a chance. And he would come to me to ask me for advice, because I was a girl. I was horrible at that kind of stuff. My gender did not mean I would give good love advice, but Itachi didn't seem to give a shit.

"If I were you, I'd fear Sasuke's reaction more than your father's." It made him smile and he got up too. We started walking toward my place and I wouldn't stop taunting him. "I mean, maybe he will close your fan club you know, or join your fan girls to cry over your new relationship." That actually made him chuckle.

"Maybe I should get prepared then."

"Oh, you should Itachi, I think you know what a demon your brother can be," I said as we stopped in front of my house. I could see spiky hair through the curtain of the front window. "Thanks for walking me home. Good night."

"Good night," he replied as I opened the front door.

I took my shoes off and peeked at what Naruto was watching on the TV. Some kids show. He greeted me, his eyes glued to the TV, and I did the same as I went to the dinner table, where my mom was drinking tea, reading the newspaper she couldn't read in the morning. I sat and took a pear to eat when she gave me her paper.

"Read it Akane," she ordered me and I frowned at the seriousness in her voice. So I did. And almost choked on my piece of fruit. There had been a coup in Kirigakure and from what they were saying in the paper, Zabusa-san and a few other shinobi were on the run now. I remembered now...Zabuza-san had launched a coup against Yagura-sama. And for the news to be relayed on the continent, the village was probably in chaos. More than usual.

"That was bound to happen anyway, with how things are over there," I mumbled and gave her paper back. Yeah, days of peace would come to an end soon. I mean, I came back two days ago and I could see the high-ranked shinobi quite tense. "Maybe the spark it lighted will turn into a fire soon."

" _You were the head of the Resistance in Kiri sensei?"_

" _Once Ao found out Yagura was under a genjutsu we knew in what direction to go, but yes. To be fair, it was also thanks to Zabuza's coup. I just wished Mangetsu and you could have been a part of it, it would have been faster."_

So it was going to start huh...

"Nee-chan."

"What?" I answered, glancing at my cousin standing next to me.

"You're going to be our sensei this year?"

"Yeah. And you won't call me nee-chan at the Academy, okay? You'll call me sensei, like Sasuke. I don't want anyone saying I'm favoring both of you."

He nodded and went back in the couch to lay down on it. Humph, he looked tired.

* * *

" _Uchiha...Shisui..." the Kiri-nin whispered, a hand on the bleeding gash on his side. The Uchiha looked down on him with a blank face. He was not the biggest fan of Kiri since he discovered they abducted Akane and forced her to be a kunoichi when she hated this. The simple fact someone would be forced into fighting and killing when they hated it was a disgusting idea to him._

" _We sensed other shinobi from your village coming this way, you're lucky."_

" _Planning...to steal one...one of them too?" he managed to say before coughing blood whereas Shisui's blood ran cold. The sense of the question was pretty clear and he clenched his fists. He briefly thought about taking a kunai and end his life, but if he knew this, the chances he was the only one were non-existent. Plus, killing him would start a war. "...knew it...too stubborn to die..."_

 _He turned his head to one of his teammate who told him Iwa was going back to the Land of Earth. Kiri was getting closer and closer._

" _We're leavingn" Shisui said to his team and gave one last glance to the swordsman on the ground. "You're lucky your friends are coming."_

He blinked and rubbed his eyes. He had not slept from all night, which he spent staring at his ceiling. He was talking about Akane, there was no doubt about it. He frowned and turned on his side. Kiri had no mercy for their nukenin. They were killed. So if they knew she was alive, and in another village, they would get rid of her and he would not let that happen.

He was alive thanks to her. His clan and the village were relatively at peace because she shared her knowledge with them, and he would never thank her enough for that. That was a debt the Uchiha clan would forever have to her. He cared about the sad little girl he met when he was eight when he just awoke his Mangekyo Sharingan, and he cared even more for the fifteen year-old who did her best to reconcile the village and his clan.

Maybe even a little too much considering her age and his age.

A groan left his lips as the doorbell of his apartment rang. He got up and slipped a t-shirt on to open his front door. He was met by the beautiful brown eyes of the person he was worried about.

"Yo," she greeted him and showed him a plastic bag. "Want some breakfast?" He stepped aside to let her in and watched her pinched her nose. "It stinks here, when was the last time you opened your window?"

"I don't know..." he mumbled, catching with ease the bag whereas she went to his window to open it wide. He peeked at the food and his stomach grumbled at the sight of the many boxes inside. "How was Suna?"

"Hot and dry. Itachi is worried about you you know, and asked me to come to make you talk. Mom thought you might want some homemade cooking so..."

"Thanks Aka-chan," he thanked her and he widened his eyes when she turned to face him. He put the food on his table and walked up to her, staring at her cast. "What..."

"I'm happy that a broken arm was the only thing I got from the mission, it could have been much worse," she said with a wave of her valid hand. He raised his eyes to meet hers, which, even with the sun behind her, had that light red undertone to them. "I heard you met one of the Seven Swordsmen. The only one who must have been left out of the coup against the Mizukage recently."

"He knew you were alive," he said in a low voice.

"I figured it would happen sooner or later. Let me guess, around my age, white hair, purple eyes and sharp teeth?" He frowned. He knew she knew people in Kiri but...it still kind of make him angry the fact he didn't know everything about her. So he nodded. And widened his eyes when she warped her arm around his neck.

"Wha-"

"Thanks for saving his life Shisui, thank you so much," she murmured in his shoulder. He took a deep breath, regretting it the minute her scent reached his nose. Fruity, but with the faint smell of the ink she would use every single day.

"You know him?"

"My teammate. Thank you," she repeated once again and let go of him. The relieved smile on her lips didn't escape his dark eyes. "You told the Hokage right? So that he can take the appropriate..."

"I didn't." Her quizzing look made him avert his own. "The elders could try to get rid of you and..."

"Shisui, it doesn't matter what they do to me. I won't let my presence fuck that place up with war. You gotta tell him before..." She stopped her sentence when he grabbed her wrist. It felt so small, so fragile in his hand. His hand wrapped her whole wrist and he felt like he could break it too easily. Maybe she could fight but he could not help but think Kiri would crush her easily. So easily, too easily. "Shisui, don't forget I'm almost forty in my head. I know what I am doing probably more than you, no matter how strong and experienced you are right now. Peace is the most important, right?"

"It is," he admitted and he ran a hand through his hair. "But it doesn't mean I can't want to protect you from them."

"Well, the will to protect people is what makes you strong around here," she chuckled to ease the tension and he allowed himself a small smile. "It's not like you. You're the one to cheer people up. Anyway, I gotta go. Be sure to eat and to see the Hokage. Everything will be fine, trust me."

"Got it," he said and grinned at her. She grinned back at him, patted his shoulder and left his place. He wouldn't let her get hurt.

"Oh!" she yelled and went back at his door. "Go and talk to your cousin, I thought he was going to cry because he didn't know what was going on with you. Bye!" And she left.

* * *

"My name is Akane Sasaki, you may remember me from that Suiton jutsu. I'll be your teacher in the initiation in fuinjutsu this year and if you continue next year, I'll be your teacher too. Questions? Yes?" I said to a student, next to Hinata.

"You're the girl Uzumaki called 'nee-chan' before, you're related?"

"Yeah, but that's none of your concern. If you have no question school related, then we can start." I scanned the room with my eyes and sighed of relief when I saw no raised hands. I recognized some faces though. Choji, for instance, eating chips. Shikamaru was sitting next to him, his chin in his hand and his eyes barely open. Of course, there were Naruto and Sasuke behind them, Shino sitting next to the Uchiha. On the front row on my left, Sakura and Ino were next to each other. And Kiba was in the back, his hands crossed behind his head. "Fuinjutsu is the name given to any sealing techniques. Taijutsu is hand-to-hand combat, Ninjutsu is when you use techniques and Genjutsu illusions. I'm sure some of you are already at a certain level in some areas, but Fuinjutsu is a complex discipline. Can anyone give me the most used seal by shinobi?"

Sasuke raised his hand, a smug look on his face. Hinata also raised a shy hand. You bet she'd know that, now she could deactivate an explosive tag a second before it explode. Naruto didn't seem to really care, so I questioned Sakura.

"Explosive tag, shinobi often use them with kunai," she recited, strangely sure of herself. I thought she had self-confidence later on, once she was Tsunade-sama's student, but I wouldn't complain. So I nodded.

"Yeah. Unfortunately, because it would take too much time and I don't think it would interest a lot of you, we won't get into the details of a seal. I won't teach you to read them or to write them as it takes a lot of time..." Sasuke had a very proud smirk on his lips, "for someone to do so. This year, you will learn how to distinguish the most used seals and how to seal items in scroll."

"That's useless! We can't even use them in fight!" a student yelled, standing up. "That sucks!"

"So you think I'm defenseless right now?"

"Yeah!"

I smiled sweetly at him and disappeared, to reappear behind him. I put a hand on his back and placed my immobility seal on him, making his upper body crash on his desk.

"At your level, you're right to say it won't be useful in fight. The most you can do is sealing weapons in scrolls, and yet, you would need to summon them very quickly. However, at a high-level, you can seal anything, on a living being or not. You can make your opponent immobile, block his chakra, break the pact between a shinobi and his summon and the list goes on. Just to be clear, if you say Fuinjutsu is useless in fights, you're implying that the Yondaime Hokage and Jiraya-sama, one of the three sannins, are weak, as they both are Seal Masters. The Yondaime even used seals as one of his main fighting style." I released the seal and walked to my desk. "But as for what you'll learn, you should be able to seal and summon food or any other items from scrolls, which can be useful as sealed items do not change state. An apple will still be eatable even after a month. We're good?"

They all nodded and I rolled my eyes at Sasuke and Naruto. They were snickering at my victim.

* * *

Time flies. I saw Shisui a lot more and, he never said it but I knew he was on a mission. He was watching me. Because the tensions between Konoha and Kiri were getting worse. It was back to normal with Iwa, but Kiri wasn't happy their mission failed because of Konoha. It would have failed either way but...I could almost see Yagura-sama pacing furiously in his office, barking orders at every shinobi who dared to come in.

But except for the awful feeling of being watched, nothing changed. Naruto and Sasuke realized that what I would make them do in class had nothing to do with what they would do at home, and many students set items on fire when they tried to seal them. Too much chakra and boom. Hopefully I knew many water-based jutsu.

But we still ended outside. When it came to the level above, I still had Neji in my class. And he would ask quite often how to break seals. It didn't take a genius to know why. Well, for me anyway because I was still working with Hiashi-san on a way to reduce the damages the curse seal does on the Branch House. I also had Tenten, who was pretty good at weapons storage. Not that I didn't know it already, but it was something to see her progressing so much.

Also, I got a tatoo. Nah, just kidding, but I had a seal on my right wrist. A confidentiality seal. With how things were with Kiri, who knew what could happen. So mom, with a sample of Hiashi-san's blood and Fugaku-san's blood, sealed all the things I knew of the Hyuuga and Uchiha clans so that I wouldn't spill their secrets. And the only way to deactivate to seal would be with their blood.

"Date?" I repeated, blinking slowly.

"Yeah, we need to go to the upcoming festival with an Uchiha date," Itachi explained to me when him, Shisui and I were sitting on the porch of his house. I opened my mouth but nothing came. They both had girlfriends anyway, so that was normal. It was even a miracle Shisui had the same girlfriend for more than three months.

"We can still meet up somewhere!" Shisui told me when he saw my pout. I shook my head.

"No way I'm the third wheel on a double date!"

"Wouldn't that make you the fifth wheel?" Itachi pointed out with a smirk. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Shut it you smart ass."

"I can go with you nee-san."

I hugged Sasuke around the waist. I was sitting and he was standing, so that was making it easier.

"You're the only Uchiha who won't break my heart!" I cried dramatically and I heard Mikoto-san's laugh coming from inside. "You're the best Sasuke, you know that?"

"Obviously," he replied smugly. I let him go and he started walking away. "Mother, I'm going out!"

"Where?" Came his mother's answer, sticking her head through the doorway. I muffled a laugh behind my hand when I realized the three of us were listening the conversation.

"I don't know, the dobe asked me to come over for something, if I don't go he'll be more of a pain than usual."

I busted into laughter, Shisui snickered and Itachi smiled. That was so cute to see their friendship blossom.

* * *

"Where are we going?"

"Just follow me Sasuke! I know someone who can help us for fuinjutsu class!" Naruto replied, running through the crowd, Sasuke following him closely.

"I don't need help!" the Uchiha hissed when they arrived at the park.

"If you blow up one more thing nee-chan is going to kill you. Did you see the weird thing her eye did the other day?"

"I did, but she won't do that to any of us."

Naruto stopped in his tracks and shot him a deadpan look.

"Maybe she would," Sasuke admitted, "but it doesn't mean that..."

"Oh, here she is! Sakura-chan!"

Sasuke went stiff. That was the name of one of his fangirls, wasn't it? The pink-haired one? Sasuke watched the blond boy run toward her and a blond girl, the Yamanaka heiress if he remembered well, and asked them something. He came back quickly with a sad face.

"She won't help us Sasuke," Naruto sighed deeply.

"We don't need her anyway. Let's go back to training." The children started to leave but a small voice stopped them. They turned to see the girls running to them with reddened cheeks and Sasuke's frown deepened.

"You both need help?" the blond girl asked them, but staring at Sasuke. "Sakura can help you in the end, and I'll come with her!"

Naruto started to make a face but the prospect of Sakura coming made him grin. "Yeah, th..."

"Absolutely not," Sasuke cut him off sharply, shooting cold glances at the girls. "If we need help, we can ask nee-san or nii-san, even Akiko-ba-san."

"But..."

"Shut up, you're annoying." With that sharp answer, the pinkette looked down. Naruto cast him an angry look but Sasuke returned it before leaving. Naruto soon followed him, screaming at him to apologize. "You're dumb dobe, they were ready to do it because I was here."

"Don't you think I already know that teme?" At his answer, the Uchiha shoved his hands in his pockets and scoffed at him. "I don't care if Sakura-chan..."

"You should build yourself some self-esteem. You won't use me to get your crush to work with you."

"If I can use our friendship to get close to her then I will!" he claimed loudly when they reached a street close to where Naruto was living.

"Hmph, as if I would let you do that. She is annoying."

"No she's not!"

They fought all the way, but later that day, when he was eating dinner with his family, he realized something that made him grin.

Sasuke had not denied their friendship.

* * *

"Oh, are you going to the festival by the way?" Ko elegantly raised an eyebrow at me and Hinata turned from the seal to look at me. "What, I'm gonna play the babysitter for Naruto _and_ Sasuke, I'm looking for people to drag down with me!"

"Are they that bad?" the oldest Hyuuga asked me and I nodded.

"Individually they're okay, but together? They're always bickering for one thing or another. Hey, why don't you come with us?"

"That's..."

"Yes!" I smirked. Hinata beat Ko to it and, even though she was blushing now.

Turned out Sasuke coming with us ended up in Sasuke sleeping at our place. My mom was with some colleagues, even though she would probably be with Mikoto-san at some point. So now, we just met with Sasuke and his parents. If Naruto was wearing an orange yukata, we tried to get him another color but he wouldn't have any of it, with his sleeves rolled up to the shoulders, I had opted for a plain burgundy one with a black obi around the waist. The most striking thing was my curly hair instead of my usual straight auburn hair. It was nothing too crazy, but mom wouldn't let me do my hair myself and made soft curls. I liked it anyway, like the soft makeup she put on my face. For once, I did look like a girl.

"But...where are your stuff Sasuke?" I asked the kid in a dark blue yukata. He shot me a smug smirk and showed me a scroll. Naruto gaped at him and pointed.

"Not fair!"

"Told you I didn't need her help."

Oh right, there was that thing with Sakura and Ino. Sasuke did not like how they were trying to get some time with him through Naruto I guess. How cute.

"Thanks for taking Sasuke Akane-chan. Have a good time," Mikoto-san told us. Fugaku-san nodded and they left.

"By the way, I asked a friend to come with us," I informed the kids, who raised their eyebrows.

"You have other friends than nii-san and Shisui-san?"

Ouch. That, that one hurt. I punched him on the head, which he surprisingly stopped, and Naruto dragged us to a food shop. We had just bought, or more like I had bought us takoyaki when Ko's voice called me. Naruto and Sasuke were surprised to see Hinata, who was cute enough to eat in her lavender yukata.

"I swear, if one day there is no more octopus in the world it will be because of you," Ko told me, eyeing the takoyaki in my hands with despair.

"You're just jealous because you want some."

"I don't...get that out of my face!"

* * *

"I feel bad for her. She looked upset we left her alone tonight," Shisui sighed. His girlfriend Chihiro was talking with Izumki. She was a true beauty, with the dark hair and dark eyes all Uchihas shared. She was kind too, and simply just a wonderful woman.

"I'm sure she found people to go with," Itachi replied smoothly.

"Hum..."

"I mean, she looks beautiful tonight but it looks like that Hyuuga I saw in her hospital room some time ago is with her."

"Wh..." Itachi pointed something behind him with his finger. Shisui glanced at what he was showed and widened his eyes a little. It was Akane, definitely Akane, but she was looking extremely feminine for once. Not that she was not, but she would be feminine according to her mood. Her yukata was fitting her perfectly and he could see some makeup on her. She was...gorgeous. "Wow," He said and then saw a boy next to her, playing some fishing game, "that's the Hyuuga?"

"Hyuuga Ko, he takes care of the clan's head daughter and helps Akane during their training sessions."

"Do I wanna know how you know that?"

"I asked her."

"Your crush huh? Getting jealous? You said she was beautiful, didn't y..."

"I'm stating facts, she's a dear friend of mine and I'm not going to say she's bad looking if I think otherwise," Itachi interrupted him with a frown. "And you're the one getting jealous, not me. I'm not clenching my fists." Shisui stopped clenching his fists. "I'll admit I'm not good with feeling but I'm not the one lying to myself for once."

"Who said I was lying to myself Itachi?" Shisui replied in a low and serious voice with a frown. "She doesn't see me that way, and I'm too old for her anyway. I wouldn't touch her before she's eighteen."

"You don't know how she sees you."

"You're right, but I know her. There will always be something holding her back."

Itachi frowned at his cousin, who shot one last longing look at their female friend, who was oblivious as she had not even realized they were looking at her. Shisui and Akane had a secret he did not know, and with this situation with Kirigakure, he probably knew a part of it.

He needed to make her admit she was a nukenin from the Hidden Mist though.

* * *

"What..."

"Tsk, her again," Sasuke hissed next to me. He took my hand rather harshly but Sakura did not look at him. She stopped in front of Naruto, looking down at her feet. My cousin blushed by the way. And bad timing, Hinata glanced at him right at that moment. There was nothing better than ten year-old kids drama.

"Sa...Sakura-chan?"

"I'm...sorry for the other day. It was not right to...to be an opportunist when you needed help," Sakura said and I could tell she really was ashamed of herself.

"Hehe, that's okay!" Naruto laughed, half embarrassed as he scratched the back of his head. I discreetly pinched Sasuke when he scowled.

"Hey Sakura, why don't you come hang out with us? We were about to go find a spot for the fireworks," I asked her with a smile. She shot me a stunned look, and briefly glanced at Sasuke. Hmph, I could feel his murderous glare on me.

But we still ended up on the cliff of the Hokage. Ko was sitting on Hinata's right, who was next to Sakura, who was next to me who was next to Sasuke. Naruto? He was sitting between my legs, my arms around him and his head tucked under my chin. I smiled when the colorful explosions filled the dark sky above us. It was beautiful, and the threat of war left my mind for a short amount of time.

It was a beautiful village, wasn't it? If oji-chan and Itachi thought it was worth their lives, then it couldn't be that bad.

As we went home, dropping Sakura at her place and Ko and Hinata walking with us until mine because the Hyuuga boy was carrying my sleeping cousin on his back, I couldn't help but think it was in those peaceful times you could really see what was worth protecting.

* * *

 **Hey, thanks for reading! I'm struggling for the end of the first Arc, which should be in one or two chapters.**

 **skittlesdeb:** **Thanks for the review :)**

 **DeiStarr:** **Thanks for the review :) and the your opinion on the pairing. After almost a year without touching this story, my love for Itachi came back and old ideas probably won't be put in the story. But because Akane wants to do things differently in her second life, I don't think she will be in a relationship for a very long time, I really want to focus on her :)**


	15. Konoha Arc: Final

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes and sorry for the long wait.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 15**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 10**

 **Shisui: 19**

 **Kakashi: 24**

* * *

So Sakura and Ino were not speaking to each other apparently. That was what Sakura told Naruto anyway, when she was sick of him asking her what was wrong. Sasuke couldn't care less as he ignored the girl as much as he could.

At least, it was what I heard through the door as I was watching TV, laying in my couch with food and soda. Gosh, the movie was so popular it was already on TV. I already knew the story of Princess Gale but dang it, it was as good as ever.

"The storyline is stupid." I jumped at Itachi's voice behind me and fell on the floor. Right, it was summer so the window was open. I slowly got up and glared at Itachi, who didn't even bat an eye. "The plot in itself doesn't take in account the principle of chakra."

"How do you know that? You've watched the movie?"

"Izumi wanted to," he admitted with a faint blush he failed to hide behind his high collar.

"Well, it's a movie anyway, who cares if it is faithful to the truth or not? What are you doing here by the way?"

"The Hokage asked me to get you immediately." I raised an eyebrow and noticed a bandage around his arm. It had clearly been done hastily and the brownish color of dried blood could be seen. Itachi noticed my look and turned away from me. "Just follow me Akane."

I went to tell the kids I was going out and that Sasuke was in charge, ignored Naruto's protests and left with Itachi. He was silent and holding his arm. I knew he was on a mission around the borders but it was rare of him to come back hurt. And from the road we were on, we were going to the hospital. I swallowed with difficulty, frowning at the ground. I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach and once I spotted the hospital in the distance, I felt sweat rolling down my back.

"Akane," Itachi called me when he glanced at me, "calm down, it's useless to stress that much already."

"Stop reading me like that..." I muttered under my breath. I caught a glimpse of his smirk before he turned his head away from me.

"You're too easy, it's not my fault." We entered the building and Itachi led me to a room. I went in it but he stayed behind. What was not my surprise to see Kakashi-san in a bed, with the Hokage and the Elders around him.

"Wh..." I started but the old geezers glared coldly at me. As I moved forward, I scanned Kakashi-san. He was conscious, but pretty beaten up.

"Kakashi's team encountered a team of Kiri ANBU and there was a fight," the Sandaime explained in a tired voice.

"Why don't you tell her what kind of ANBU they were Hiruzen?" the old woman snapped coldly at the Hokage, who barely shot her a look. "They were oinin looking for a missing nin in the country. Keeping her in the village is a declaration of war."

I clenched my fists and looked down. Guilt gained my body and I bite the inside of my cheek. She was right, but the Hokage knew what he was signing for when he allowed me to stay, didn't he?

"Akane-kun, I need to know how far the Mizukage can go with..."

"Mizukage-sama is not forgiving with traitors," I interrupted him with a hollow voice. "I had tried many times to escape before, he probably wants my head on a silver platter if he knows I'm alive."

"We need to get rid of her Hiruzen!" the old man cried. "We can't allow another war to break out!"

* * *

It only got worst. The rare moments I would see Itachi, he would be tired and often injured. Way too often for someone like him. Shisui was on edge and the police was a lot more on guards than usual. Sasuke was worried for his brother, so strong and yet so often wounded recently, Naruto was confused about why mom was jumping at every little noises or why I was distant. Let's just say that Christmas was not really fun. It was the only thing I could think of as I was training my Ice release with the fresh snow in the forest.

At least until someone appeared behind me. I turned around quickly, ready to attack, but Gai-san stopped me easily.

"Sorry," I apologized, stepping back.

"No need, the whole village is stressed right now. Anyway, I'm patrolling! Have you seen anything?"

I wanted to shake my head but I frowned when at least six presences could be felt around us. All of them with killing intent. Gai-san became serious and his body adopted a defensive position. I gulped and tried my best to keep my legs from shaking. So many killing intents at the same time...did I really become so used to the feeling of being in Konoha that I cannot handle a shinobi aura anymore?

No, that was not it...

It was when they showed themselves I understood my feeling. One of them had a huge sword on his back. A double sword.

Mangetsu huh...and the familiar chakra next to him...Dai...

Fuck, they were never meant to be ANBU!

"Run," Gai-san ordered me, and I did as I was told without looking back. Deep down, I would always be a coward I guess. But I...I don't want to go back! It is selfish, but I don't want to go back to this hell!

I ran as fast as I could, but was soon stopped by a kunai flying next to my face. I bent over, put my hands in the snow and kicked Dai with both of my feet, strong enough to send his mask flying in the air. He didn't fall back and shot me a surprised look at how strong my kicks were now. I got up and started running again, but was stopped by Mangetsu, who grabbed my arms to keep me in place.

"We don't have a lot of time so shut up and listen Uzu, got it?" he said in a deeper voice than I remembered him to have. I found myself nodding, my mouth opened but no sound was coming from it. And the more him and Dai talked, the more I was speechless. That...was... "You have to come back, got it? They won't let you alone now."

"I..."

"If aneki had any other choices, she would let you stay here. But funny enough, that place is the less safe for you now," Dai added with a certain sadness in his voice.

"I see..."

"We need you. More than the people here now."

I bite the inside of my cheek. No, you can't be selfish anymore Akane, you already died once, you have to...you have to do what is right! I need to...Naruto has mom, the Uchihas are alive and well and...

But Kiri rebellion? Can I really play the double agent like they want me to? How can I even gain Yagura's trust anyway?

Before I could answer properly, I was hit in the neck and fell in the snow. My vision faded to black as I was hearing the faint sound of footsteps coming this way, and my old teammates leaving quickly.

* * *

"As you can guess, this situation is getting worse." I nodded whereas the Hokage blew out smoke. "They broke into the village ground and now have proofs we have a missing-nin within the village."

"Have you heard from him?" I asked in an empty voice.

"Not yet, but it should not be long. As much as I want to fulfill Minato's and Kushina's wishes, I can not let your presence here endangers the villagers."

"Obviously."

"I will call you back if I hear anything from Kirigakure. Until then..."

"Alive or dead, I don't have much time left here Sandaime," I interrupted him, staring at my toes, "but I...I want to be sure mom and Naruto will be fine."

"You have my word," he promised me, staring straight into my eyes.

Later, as I was walking to my place, I changed path to go to the cemetery. I sat in front of my brother's grave, noticing flowers on it. I sighed softly, hugging my knees against my chest. I buried my head in between and felt something rolling down my cheek.

And another one.

Before I knew it, I was crying. I can't remember if I cried ever since I got here, but I was now. I wanted to be selfless, I wanted to do more for others but...but...

"I'm scared...I'm so scared oni-chan," I sobbed in the air, "I don't wanna die, I don't wanna go back there even if they need me..."

There are many others who could do the job better than me. I was fine with training again, but I don't know if I could handle the pressure of missions once again. If I could handle the pressure of an entire rebellion.

But I wouldn't be alone, right? And my presence here might doom everybody too.

My whole body froze when I felt someone behind me. I tried to stop my sobbing but failed. But Kakashi-san didn't say anything. He just stayed here until I stopped.

That night, I barely slept.

* * *

The idea of going back slowly sank in. It would have its advantages after all. I would see my team again, I would do something good and...and it's not as if mom would be alone, or Naruto. The Uchihas are fine and on relative good terms with the village so that's...good.

But would I survive? I'm a missing-nin technically, Yagura-sama... _Obito_ will kill me.

No Akane, your presence here may bring war with Kirigakure, your...your _village_ that you like it or not. You can't let an entire village full of people you know are good in the way of danger because you want to run away from there forever. I said, I vowed not to be useless this time goddammit!

"Nee-chan, can we come in?" Naruto asked me behind the door. I mumbled something and the door opened, revealing Sasuke and him. I raised an eyebrow at the various cakes Sasuke had with him. "We asked Sakura-chan what could cheer you up nee-chan, and she said food always makes girls better!"

"Mother told us of all the pastries you'd like," Sasuke added without glancing directly at me, an embarrassed flush on his cheeks.

I stared at them, dumbfounded.

"Nee...nee-chan?"

"I'm fine," I said in a hoarse voice, "just surprised. It's really sweet of you two."

"But I'm the best, I'm the one who thought of asking Sakura-chan!"

"Without my mother we..."

I watched them bickering between themselves and slowly stood up. I walked up to them and hugged them close to me. I put my face on their shoulders.

"Nee-chan, are you okay!?" Naruto yelled, hugging me as tight as he could, Sasuke patting me clumsily on the back.

"I love you both," I whispered in their ears. "No matter what, always remember I love you."

I felt Naruto starting to shake and he was soon a sobbing mess in my arms, saying he loved me too whereas Sasuke was blushing.

They were ten. They would not experience war now. Especially not because of me.

With that, I found a new resolve to play Kiri's game.

* * *

"I received words from the Mizukage himself," the Hokage told me when I entered his office. I took note of Hyuuga-sama and Fugaku-san in the room and took a deep breath, putting on the old mask I would always wear in front of Yagura-sama and in Kirigakure in general. "you are not considered a missing-nin, you were reported missing in action and you were said to be dead."

That I already knew from what Suigetsu had told me before.

"He accused Konoha of kidnapping on a Kirigakure jōnin and sequestration within the village walls. Therefore he sent many ANBU here, missing-nin hunters even and I do not know why. However, you were under the Yondaime's protection, and in his will he wrote down he wanted you to be a part of Konoha, and a Kage's will is unbreakable and shall be respected."

"But any person born in Kirigakure is property of Kirigakure," I recited automatically. I knew where this was going. "I've already prepared myself for this Sandaime-sama, when ?"

"In two days, at night, we will meet with Kirigakure at the border. I will be going, and so are Fugaku and Hiashi to give you back." I glanced at my wrist and gathered chakra in it, showing the confidentiality seal. It would not break.

"Sorry for the troubles," I said, raising my eyes to look at him.

"Don't, it was Minato's wishes and I could not go against it. It is a law and from the moment you were four, you were under Konoha's protection. We failed in that aspect years ago."

"If we give them Akane," Fugaku-san spoke for the first time and I was surprised to hear him say my first name, "then is there any certainties tensions will calm down?"

"The threat of a war probably, but there won't be any peace treaty."

"How do we know that agreeing to what he is asking is okay then? He could set up an ambush to kill you." Yeah, it was a possibility. But not right now.

"Sasaki," Hyuuga-sama called me, and I set my gaze on his harsh face, "you know the Mizukage."

"I would have agreed with Fugaku-san if it was not for the recent coup against him. Without the Swordsmen he won't do anything. He is heartless, but smart. He knows he won't stand a chance against any of the Five Nations without a new generation."

We all left soon enough. Hyuuga-sama would let Hinata know I was done being her sensei, after what, two years? Hopefully, the Hokage will find a replacement for my classes at the Academy, or he will cancel it, it is the end of the year after all. I have to say goodbye to Naruto and Sasuke, Itachi and Shisui...oh god, Shisui who hopefully won't feel too guilty about it.

And I have to tell mom.

I have to tell mom I'm going back to the very place her and dad ran away from.

"Mom," I said once Naruto was sound asleep in his room later that night, "I've seen the Hokage today."

"A...and?" she stuttered, stopping drying the plates.

"I...Mom, I'm going back." I whispered with a tint of worry in my voice. Not for me, but for her. And from the horrified expression on her face, I could only sighed in my mind. "Mom..."

The plate she had in her hands fell and broke in multiple piece. I kept staring at her, and bit my cheek when a trembling grin appeared on her lips.

"Oh would you look at that honey, what a klutz I am!" She exclaimed, crouching to pick up the pieces.

"Mom..." I called her, crouching next to her.

"Give me the broom, I don't want Naruto to hurt himself with it!"

"Mom stop it and look at me!" I snapped at her, grabbing her hand in the process. It was trembling, and so was her entire body now.

"I...I...not again..."

She took me in her arms, keeping me in a death grip as she was sobbing uncontrollably. I hugged her back, hoping Naruto would not wake up.

However, I could not cry. I did not know why, but the tears would not come. Maybe because I wanted to do something for the future, make it easier for when things will really get hard with the Akatsuki.

So I held my crying mother. For most of the night.

Another memory that would not leave my mind.

* * *

Itachi stopped at the entrance of the park, having already spotted Akane sitting on the swing. Her face was void of any emotion. He had not told her he knew she was from the Mist, but with the situation and his S-rank mission regarding the Hokage who was going to negotiate a truce with the Mizukage, he could not stay silent. Konoha had avoided a coup from his clan, but barely. Shisui and him were ready to put their entire clan under the Mangekyo to protect the village. So as a shinobi of the Leaf, he had to do everything he could to protect his village, his family.

Even if a possible threat was someone he came to consider as a close friend.

Itachi walked up to her, his hands in his pockets, and stood in front of her. Akane raised her brown eyes on him, dark circles prominent under them. She was tired, he noted, worried, meaning she knew of the situation to a certain extent.

"Let's go for a walk," he told her, turning his back to her. He heard the swing move slightly and she was next to him.

"You okay?" she ended up asking him after several minutes where none of them spoke. As they got close to the exit of the village, he stopped and faced her, his face grave. The street lights were making the situation even more tense.

"I know you're from the Mist Akane."

"Oh," she replied with dull eyes, "so what?"

"Are you, in any way, involved in the tensions between your village and Konoha?" he asked her, noting the twitching of her hand when he said 'your village'.

"What if I am? You're going to kill me?"

"Not if I'm not ordered to," Itachi answered coldly, his whole demeanor becoming stiffer like his ANBU self. "We may be friends, but I'm a shinobi of the Leaf and if you become too much of a threat, I won't hesitate. If your actions are responsible for the conflicts, then you have the responsibility to do something, no matter the price."

"Of course," she ironically said and then bite her bottom lip. "Good to hear where your priorities are Itachi."

"You're a missing-nin, leaving your village is already cowardly enough, don't bring innocent people down with you."

She opened her eyes wide, hurt flashing briefly through them and she put her hand down. Akane clenched her fist so hard her knuckles turned white.

"A...coward?" she repeated under her breath between clenched teeth. "That's...so ironic, you saying missing-nin are cowards, Uchiha."

"What is that supposed to mean?" he replied with a frown.

"Nothing."

"Hn." He closed his eyes and started to walk away. "And stay away from Sasuke."

He thought he heard her call him but he ignored it. Once he was far enough, he stopped in the middle of the road and looked up at the moon, shining in the sky.

Akane was a threat, a cause of tension so she had to do something. Nothing else mattered. Not the many times they met after a therapy session just to be in the presence of someone who knew what it was like. Not the joy he felt when she finally agreed to become friends. Not his brother who would call her 'nee-san'. Not the fun he had when teasing her. Not his clenched fists at his sides, or his heart beating painfully in his chest as if to tell him he made a mistake to leave her alone when it took so much time for them to be friends.

It did not matter that his first thought when he fully understood the situation was to plan something with Shisui to make sure she would be safe from danger.

Konoha was his duty. Konoha was his priority, even if it meant he would lose his friendship with Akane in the process.

* * *

Itachi and I had our conversation last night. Tonight I leave. I just left the Uchiha compound after Sasuke listened to my announcement silently. I said I was offered a job abroad and would not be here for a long time. When I was done, he nodded and thanked me for telling him before going to his room.

I found Kakashi-san quickly and from the look in his eye, he knew. But then, when did Kakashi-san not _know_?

I asked him to keep an eye on my family. I told him none of what he could have done would have stopped this, that he did not need to include me in his guilt.

Then I went to the Hyuugas. Hinata had tears in her eyes when she saw me, and I hugged her delicately and told her she would be a fine and brave kunoichi one day. She gave me a silver bracelet with lilac stones in it, bowed to me and thanked me. I kept my tears inside, touched by her gesture, and bowed to, nodding gravely to Ko who returned it with understanding.

I spent the rest of the day with Naruto, and the evening with mom. I was supposed to meet the Hokage at the gate at ten o'clock. It was nine. I went to my room and packed a bag with what I might need if I stayed alive, taking and sealing my diary of my old life multiple times. I sealed Hinata's gift too, so that it would not break.

In theory I should stay alive. If Mangetsu and Dai came and told me, it must mean they know I won't be killed. But with Yagura-sama...you can never be sure of anything. Maybe seeing my face will make him change his mind.

I went down and smiled weakly at my mom, who launched herself toward me and embraced me under Naruto's confused eyes.

"I love you honey," she whispered softly to my ear, running a hand in my hair.

"I love you too mom." I detached myself from her and went to my cousin. I knelt in front of him and put my hand in his blond hair. "Naruto, I'm leaving the village tonight." He widened his eyes in shock. "I was offered a job abroad I couldn't refuse. I don't know how long I will be gone, so be nice to mom, okay?"

"But...but you can't leave nee-chan!" he yelled with watery eyes. "You're my nee-chan, you can't leave until I'm Hokage!"

"Naruto..."

"NO! I DON'T WANT YOU TO GO 'TEBAYO!"

I circled his waist with my arms and hugged him tightly, letting him cry in my neck. His hands were clenched to my shirt.

"Naruto, if I'm not back by then, then become a great ninja so that I can proudly say you're my lil' bro."

"Nee...nee..." he kept sobbing against me. Mom took him away and I got up, giving them one last glance. They returned it. When I opened the door, I heard Naruto yelling to me to stay and mom keeping him from following me. I closed the door behind me, the door to the place I called home for the past three years almost.

I ran. I ran all the way to Shisui's, tears running down my cheeks. I didn't bother with the door and jumped to his window. He spotted me right away and let me in, noticing my wet cheeks.

"What's the matter?" he asked with concern lacing his voice. I sniffed and threw myself in his arms. He held me back instantly and rubbed circles on my back. "Akane, I hate seeing you like this..."

"So...sorry..." I cried. I moved back and dried my eyes and nose with a tissue he gave me. "Sorry for not telling you earlier too."

"Tell me what? You're scaring me."

"I'm going back in an hour. I don't have a choice. Sorry I didn't tell you before but you know the whole story and how I feel toward Kiri so I didn't have the courage to..."

"You're going back," he interrupted me with a long face. "You're...actually going back..."

He frowned and I felt anger radiating from his body.

"Shi..."

"What's going to happen to you?"

"I...don't know. Hopefully they won't kill me."

"Hopefully!?" he repeated loudly as if he didn't believe it. "Hopefully my ass!"

He started pacing for a few seconds and ended up passing his hands on his face, muttering to himself. But I caught that he 'was powerless'.

I quirked an eyebrow when he grabbed my shoulders and took a step closer to me. His eyes were looking straight into mine, searching for something, but there was nothing. I was a master at hiding my feelings when I wanted to, and there was no way I was letting Shisui know I was still afraid. Sad yes, but not afraid.

"You're ready to go back," he muttered. His hands went to my cheeks and he let his forehead fall against mine, "but I'm not."

"Shisui?" I said in a low voice, scared of where this was going.

"Akane, I need to...oh, fuck it!" He angrily pressed his lips against mine. I stiffened, my eyes going wide while his soft and warm lips were moving against mine. I wasn't responding and I don't think he was expecting me to. The simple fact I was not pushing him away was enough for him I think. Finally, he let go of my lips and looked down on my flushing face. "I'm in love with you, and I can't let you go without knowing it."

"S..."

"I don't expect anything from you Akane," he interrupted me softly, one of his thumb running on my bottom lip, "I just...needed it out of my system you know. I wanted to know just once how it was to kiss you." He moved back, his hands falling on his side as he turned his back on me. "Now go before I really try to keep you here."

I nodded and jumped out of the window. As I was making my way to oji-chan's rocky face, I put two fingers on my lips. It was...a weird feeling I was feeling. I mean, being physically almost sixteen meant hormones and everything, but more...if Itachi and I ended up in love, it was all because of Shisui. It was because he had asked Itachi to keep an eye on me that he bothered to show himself to me. And the only thing I really wanted to know when I first saw him when he was in the Akatsuki was if he was the one who killed Shisui, because I wasn't buying the suicide excuse.

I jumped of the rock and glanced one last time at the still animated village in front of me. Who knew when I would see it once again, if I ever saw it again?

The dread in the pit of my stomach came back. Taking a deep breath, I started making my way to my fate. I was naive to think I could train as a kunoichi without going back into action.

It's with a dry throat I reached the gate of the village. That I want it or not, I'm a kunoichi, a shinobi of the Mist. As Itachi so gently put it last night, I can't allow myself to be a coward anymore. That's what I've telling me since I got here without never really having to put it in action. And when I had the occasion to...I ran away.

I can't run away from my past.

Even if I die in the process.

For Sasuke.

For Naruto.

For all the changes I managed to do with my knowledge.

* * *

He could sense his teammates, Kakashi-san's presence near him reminding him he was not alone. However, he also could feel the many hostile presence hidden in the trees in front of them and the scenery in general. Mist shinobi were more at ease in hiding near water than those of the Lead, and it was the only thing Itachi was sure of now.

Two ANBU teams, his included, were sent at the meeting point between the Hokage and the Mizukage before the actual meeting. It was not surprising to be met with opposing shinobi of the same level than them.

Itachi held his breath back when two Kiri ANBU appeared on the ground, obviously protecting the boy between them. He did look like a child but there was something strong about his chakra. Something vaguely familiar. Something reminding him of the night the Nine-Tails attacked the village.

The boy had his arms crossed and his eyes closed, as if he was perfectly relaxed whereas the situation was on the verge of war. There was no doubt that this boy was the Mizukage. Itachi knew better than anyone not to trust anyone based on their appearance or age.

After a few minutes where tensed silence was lingering in the air, the Mizukage opened his eyes and smirked at the people coming to him. Itachi frowned when he recognized his father's chakra with the Sandaime and another he vaguely knew. Hiashi Hyuuga revealed himself, fully dressed as a jōnin, and Itachi knew from where he knew that chakra.

"Well Hokage-dono," the Mizukage spoke for the first time, clear satisfaction radiating in his voice, "I hope it is the first and last time we found ourselves in this kind of situation. I don't take kindly to people taking what's mine."

"Mizukage-dono, you know better than anyone a Kage's will is supposed to be obeyed. I was executing the Yondaime Hokage's wishes," the Hokage replied coolly, and Itachi had to fight to keep his cool when he spotted a familiar auburn-haired teenage girl next to his father.

"Well, my law came in action before yours, so the affiliation of the girl is obvious," the Mist leader scoffed, and Konoha shinobi stiffened from their spot. "Now, hand over the Uzumaki."

Akane moved forward, with an insurance he knew to be fake. No matter how much he would like to protect her, he knew he couldn't, and he was repeating it in his head like a mantra.

"Did you miss me that much _Yagura-sama_? Your life must have been so annoying without your favorite punching-ball, am I right?"

"You speak exactly like your trash of a father," he spat at her and her smirk grew, making all of Itachi's senses in alert. What was she doing, taunting the Mizukage like that!?

He made a signal and Itachi's hand went to take a kunai when he noticed a Kiri-nin taking senbon. However, they did not send them on Konoha.

No. Horror filled Itachi's eyes as senbon entered Akane's neck and blood spurted from her wound. She dropped dead in the grass, eyes still wide open as her blood trickled down her flesh and in the ground.

He wished it was a genjutsu, but knew it was not one.

They took her body away and the Mizukage nodded to the Hokage before leaving.

Itachi could not detach his eyes from the puddle of blood where Akane's body was seconds ago.

He had called her a coward and now she was _dead_.

"We're leaving," the Hokage ordered to everyone.

Later, when he was back in the village, he passed in front of her house. The light in her room was on and he peeked inside. Naruto was in her bed, but awake, with dried but red and puffy eyes.

Would he and her mother be told about this?

When he reached the compound, he stopped at the sight of his father, waiting for him. He lowered his eyes and walked past him.

"Itachi." At his name, he let his father reached him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I...I feel guilty Father," the teenager mumbled.

"There is nothing you could have done."

"But I can't help but feel like I'm missing a huge part of the story." He raised his eyes to his father, who had closed his. "But you know, don't you?"

"Like I said, there is nothing _anyone_ could have done, trust me."

Yet, when Fugaku opened his eyes, he was taken back by his son, just realizing how important Akane must have been to him.

Because instead of the usual tomoes in Itachi's sharingan were three spiraling curves around the pupil.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! I've finally finished the first Arc and canon should not be far away! Truth be told, this chapter took a year to finish, and I feel like it's rushed but it does the job. Please review so that I know you liked it :)**

 **Bye!**


	16. From Konoha to Kiri

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 16**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 11**

 **Shisui: 20**

 **Kakashi: 25**

* * *

"You took your sweet time!"

I rolled my eyes at Suigetsu and dried the blood from my katana blade. Gosh, we were in the middle of one of Orochimaru's hideout in the Land of the Sea and Suigetsu dared complaining when we saved his sorry ass!

"Next time you think you can take on stronger than you, think about it twice you moron!" Mangetsu spat back, throwing clothes at his brother.

"Hopefully we are specialized in infiltration..." Dai muttered next to me. He motioned to me to tell me I had blood on my completely white mask, and I shrugged. Bloody Mist ANBU, I should bring pride and glory to the wonderful rank Yagura-sama gave me when I got back a month ago.

After they pulled that beautiful act where Dai stabbed me in the neck. The Mizukage had always loved drama a little bit too much for my taste, and faking my death was a great way to convince Konoha to back off. I was out for the entire trip back to Kiri and what was not my surprise to see I was in the hospital when I regained consciousness.

Yagura-sama was pissed. At me, because he was the best person to know I went with them willingly, at Konoha and anyone in his range really. I was not killed though, and he saw immediately I was stronger than before. So he made me an ANBU, very useful to give information to Mei-sensei for her rebellion.

That's what was off. Not the rebellion, but Yagura's behavior. I have to admit that, even if I hated being in Kiri, I ended up knowing the Mizukage pretty well. And something was just off since the last time I had seen him. I shouldn't have been accepted back so easily if not at all, and yet...

Or something was off with him, or Obito had something in mind. In any case, I was going to be on thin ice for a long time. The 'good' thing was I slipped back into my kunoichi habits pretty fast, thanks to Kakashi's training.

I also train with the boys for Hyoton and Fuijutsu.

But we had to rescue Suigetsu. Mangetsu was the only one to have noticed him gone. In another life, Suigetsu would have stayed until Sasuke freed him in order to kill his brother.

"Hey who's girly?" Suigetsu asked once properly dressed. A sadistic grin showing his sharp teeth appeared on his face. "If I try to cut her open how loud will she scream?"

Right, he didn't know I was back.

"Not now, we're leaving that fucking place," Mangetsu decided, kicking his brother in the butt to make him move. "And I swear to God Sui if you try _anything_ I'm turning you into sashimi."

Oh great. Mangetsu was a humble and cool-headed guy, a kinda like Itachi on some point, but when he was pissed it was better not to get in his way.

On that very happy note and Suigetsu endless taunting, because who cared about what Mangetsu said after all, we left that cursed and disgusting place. We were lucky enough not to run into Orochimaru. However, I'm pretty sure I felt a certain chakra when we left. I felt like I'd already felt it but a long, long time ago.

It was probably just my imagination though.

* * *

" _Mom...I thought you said your birth village was..."_

" _I know what I said Shisui..." I muttered too, looking at the beach resort clearly under construction._

" _You knew about that, didn't you Naru-oji-chan?" my daughter asked my cousin, and the flash of a camera snapped me and my son out of our surprise._

" _Priceless!" Naruto laughed, waving his camera in my face. "The Mizukage told me you'd be surprised 'ttebayo!"_

 _Of course. Of course!_

" _My sister is rarely wrong about her students!" a voice yelled at us from above. I didn't have the time to raise my eyes that someone body-flickered in front of us in a splash of water. "It's been a while Uzu."_

" _Dai..." My once short teenage teammate was in front of me, in all of his early thirties glory. He even had an auburn stubble on his chin and cheeks, but he was towering me, being probably about a head taller than me._

" _I have a lot of things to tell you, and not in the presence of children," Shisui got his cheeks pulled by his sister **and** Mirai when he was about to say something. Dai smirked at my son's situation, "especially yours. Please follow me, my sister is waiting for you. And there is someone she would like to introduce to you Uzu."_

" _Ha?"_

" _I have to say it is a lot different than what I was expecting," Naruto said as we were walking in the crowded streets where there was no longer any killing intent...as least any evident one._

" _The first move Mei did when she became Mizukage was to destroy our bloody reputation and create a new one, an equitable one. It is still hard today, but we have gotten most of it done. Chōjūrō is actively being more and more involved with his future job of Mizukage," the iryo-nin explained, beaming with pride. "To be honest, even though I knew Uzu was in Konoha, I'm surprise the Naruto Uzumaki is with her."_

" _Well Lee-sensei couldn't come and he was here in a minute. I don't even know if he's going to be paid," Shisui droned with a smirk to his uncle, who gaped at the balls he had, onyx eyes gleaming with mischief._

" _Oh right, same clan."_

" _Our moms were cousins too."_

 _Dai turned his head so fast to me I thought he was going to lose it. Akiko sighed and Mirai chuckled._

" _Will people ever stop reacting like that?"_

" _It's normal, Uzumaki-san is a war hero," Mirai replied._

" _Kami, you never talked about your past or your family but dang it!" The rest of the walk passed calmly, the boys talking among themselves whereas the girls and I were looking around. It...really changed. I'm pretty sure I got beaten up around here at some point because I was under Yagura's wing. And more surprising, it seemed like the mist was not here. We were still on the coast though, and as we reached a waterfall guarded by two shinobi, I couldn't help but shiver at the old sight._

 _Kiri and the port were now one and the same, explaining the absence of the mist. The waterfall opened and the old Kirigakure appeared, with the Kage building in its center, visible from all around town. It was more modern, but essentially the same. Maybe less mist, less violence and more joy in the streets though._

" _Nee-chan?" Naruto called me, looking at me with concern. "You're keeping it together?"_

" _Don't worry, it's just old wounds itching, nothing else," I answered with a smile. "So Dai, did sensei get married?"_

" _Please do not mention that topic in front of her. I don't have enough chakra to heal everybody in the country."_

 _I chuckled, under everybody else confusion. Once we finally reached the Mizukage's office, memories of me walking these corridors everyday scared of what Yagura would ask me, Dai opened the door without knocking. Mei-sensei's eyes lit up when she saw us, and a happy grin flourished on my lips._

" _It's been so long since Naruto's wedding!" I was soon engulfed in my sensei's hug, nostalgia gaining me. She let go of me and grinned at my children. "Look at you two, finally genin!"_

" _Thank you for your graduation gift oba-san," Akiko thanked her with a quick bow, "Kirigakure's kenjutsu is a lot more complicated than Konoha's and it's absolutely fascinating."_

" _Hey!" an outraged Naruto shouted. "We don't have those powerful swords but we're not bad!"_

" _Never said you were," my daughter retorted without looking at him. "I just pointed out it was better here."_

 _Naruto lowered his shoulders in defeat._

" _You wanted me to meet someone?"_

" _Yes. Naruto, you will follow Chōjūrō to talk about the third stage of the exam, as it will be here. These three will follow you while I have a little chat with Akane."_

" _Got it."_

 _I nodded to Chōjūrō, who nodded back, and we were left alone in her office. Sensei went back to her desk, sitting on it._

" _Naoto died in the last war you know."_

" _I...heard about it yes." I clenched my fists. "Some people were happy to know Yagura's son died when they didn't know him at all."_

" _Let them talk, that's all they know to do. I taught you that a long time ago if I remember well." I averted my eyes from her like I used to do as a kid. "But he left his fiance pregnant. She died in labor, unfortunately. Kagura...he is a genius, maybe one of the future Swordsmen. He'll be participating in the exam."_

" _But?"_

" _I'll let you see by yourself." As if on cue, a knock was heard. "Come in."_

 _I was unable to breath for a minute. The boy in front of me, barely younger than my own, was a spitting image of his grandfather. Even Naoto-senpai didn't look like his father that much. From the light brown hair, maybe browner than Yagura's which was a little bit grayish, to the unusual pink eyes...where Yagura had a scar under his left eye, Kagura had a pink line._

" _Mizukage-sama, you've asked for me?"_

" _Yes. This is Uzumaki Akane. I'm sure you know of her, she has a grave around. But she was Yagura's apprentice."_

 _He widened his eyes and looked down. "Oh, I'm..."_

 _I got it now._

" _Kagura," I spoke softly, crouching in front of him with a motherly smile, "you're not to blame for your family's actions. Trust me on that."_

" _How..."_

" _I've seen a lot and experienced a lot. My dad was friend with Yagura."_

" _Ushio...Uzumaki?"_

" _Bingo. Sensei, can I take him on a walk? I'm curious to see what changed."_

" _Please do. But before," She handed me an old and familiar hitai-ate. "take it."_

 _I took it and ran my thumb on the cool metal. That was my very first forehead protector. The cut Yagura made when he threw a shuriken at me as I was close to cross the border was still on the bottom left corner, starting from the bottom and stopping at the middle._

I ran my thumb on the exact same cut, the symbol of Kirigakure bearing much more meaning this time. I raised my eyes to sensei, not chubby yet but fit, her lips a dark red but it did not hiding the dark circles under her eyes, her hair reaching her ankles as bright as ever.

"No discrimination sensei," I mumbled softly, "I hate that place ruled by Yagura-sama, but I wanna know how it feels to be proud of your village."

"We will," she promised me, her emerald eyes burning with determination, "nobody else will ever be hurt. No classes system. Kekkai genkai users free."

"Sounds like an Utopia to me."

"Isn't that why you just accepted to fully join us? To make it more real?"

I chuckled lightly, "You got me here. But..."

"Does it have something to do with the change in your chakra? My brother told me about it."

Inoichi-san told me I could deactivate the barriers around my mind to allow me to talk about my memories. Of course, at the time they would not have allowed it if they knew I would go back here. But...but I knew what to say and what to keep for myself.

"Sensei, please keep in mind Uzumakis are weird and played with thing that should not be played with. The only things I have to back up what I'm about to tell you, it's my words and your trust in me. It needs to stay between you and I, I'm begging you."

She shot me a grave gaze and I started saying what I knew about Kiri. This...my knowledge can help this place too, I have to share it with someone I can trust.

But...Mito-sama's sentence...about enduring what your close ones should have endured...

I feel like I'm given similar responsibilities Itachi had.

Being a double agent.

Try to prevent a full on civil war and keep it between shinobi, of the same place yeah, but shinobi.

As I followed Mangetsu, and Suigetsu who was still in shock of seeing me alive, showing me the rebels living quarter I would hide even more in the swamps with seals, I could not help being my paranoid self. Mangetsu was my best friend here. Shisui was Itachi's, and the latter saw him die in front of his eyes, powerless. Here, Shisui lived and saved Mangetsu's life.

The familiar dread I felt when I got here at thirteen came back in my stomach. Was he saved or was Mangetsu someone I would never be able to save in the end?

* * *

"Hey Naruto, where is Akane-sensei?" Shikamaru asked him one day at school, whereas Sasuke was busy studying. "It's been a while since we didn't have her class and I heard teachers saying they were looking for a substitute."

"I really like Akane-sensei, her classes are very interesting!" Choji added, eating the last chips of the bag.

"She...she got a job abroad, she said she didn't know how long it will take but she will be back before they found another teacher 'ttebayo! Nobody is better than nee-chan at seals!"

"I agree with that. Man, such a drag..." the Nara sighed and noticed Sasuke's body stiffened. "You know something we don't Sasuke?"

"No," came the sharp answer. The Uchiha got up and returned inside, leaving them under the cloudy sky of November.

"Hehe, don't mind Sasuke, he misses nee-chan too but he's too stuck up to say it out loud so when she's mentioned he...he's a jerk!"

"Sasuke has been all gloomy for months. I don't understand why the girls keep being happy about it," the Akimichi heir said innocently, opening another bag of chips.

"They're troublesome."

Inside their classroom, Sasuke was the only one back. Even Iruka-sensei was still on his lunch break. Akane left just days before she turned sixteen and right after he noticed the ninjas around the village more relaxed. Sasuke knew there were tensions with Kirigakure and he was not stupid. His brother and Shisui were sad, even though they were always hiding it. He knew why.

One night, he went down to get himself a glass of water. Like often, there was light in his father's office, and his brother's and father's voice were whispering. They were talking about the sharingan. However, Sasuke's had frozen in his steps at his brother's voice, and how... _angry_ he had sounded.

" _I don't care Father, I...if I could trade my eyes for Akane's life I would do it. I didn't do anything!"_

Needless to say he did not sleep that night. He would turn around, not even bothering to close his eyes and pretend he did not hear a thing. His brother was so strong, he could protect Akane if she needed to be protected, so maybe...he did not want to help her? But he sounded angry, sad and most of all _guilty_.

Sasuke did not tell anything to his brother about the conversation. Nor his father, or mother. He kept thinking that if he did not bring it up, Akane would come back, saying something about people being stupid and everything would go back to normal.

Once the afternoon classes started, Naruto sat next to him. He kept saying Akane had found a job abroad, which had been what she told him the night she left. But the unsure look and hidden tears he was trying so hard to hide shown Naruto knew it was not just a simple job.

So as they were walking home, nearing Naruto's house, Sasuke snapped. Naruto would talk about his sister, _again_. He would drown himself in his daydreams, _again_. He would deny that a possible war had been avoided just after his sister had left, _again_.

"Stop it already you idiot!"

"Wh...what?" Naruto stuttered much like the Hyuuga girl, eyes wide from shock.

"Can't you see that she's dead!?"

"No! Nee-chan got a _job_ and is _working_!" came the angry reply, a hand grabbing the front of the Uchiha's shirt. "She's not...she's not..."

"Not what, _dead_?" Sasuke hissed at his friend, his face contorted in anger. "She had jobs in Konoha and yet she left when the village was in trouble! For all we know she could be rotting somewhere or..."

He fell to the ground, a hand on his bloody nose. Naruto had hit him. The _dead last_ had punched him in the nose and it hurt. Sasuke frowned and jumped on the blond, knocking him on the ground. He punched Naruto in the jaw and struggled to keep him down.

"She's dead! I heard my brother said it Naruto, nee-san is gone! She won't come back and you...you..." Naruto was crying. At least he thought, because his eyes were blurry. The lump in his throat was stronger than ever and big, ugly tears were running down his cheeks. His hold on Naruto's orange jacket loosened a little, his fist still in the air. Almost gently, a bigger hand wrapped itself around it.

"You're lucky nobody is in the street at this hour. What are you doing?" a bored voice asked. Naruto sniffed loudly and looked up.

"You're nee-chan's friend..."

"I'd rather be called Hatake-san. Frankly, I don't know what happened between you two, nor do I really care anyway, but don't get at each others throat in the middle of the street. People will talk and I'm sure none of you want that."

He let go of Sasuke's wrist and walked around them to leave, orange book under his eyes once again. He left the ANBU Black Ops after the whole story with Akane, realizing it was time for him to go back to a more 'relax' ninja life.

Kakashi sighed. Now he was seeing team after team because the Hokage wanted him to be a sensei.

* * *

"Say Hinata-chan," the young Haruno asked her friend when they were studying for the test the day after, "if you're from the Hyuuga clan, you must know a lot about the village, more than civilians, right?"

"Ye...yes Saku...ra-chan, wh...why?"

When Sakura and Ino stopped being friends, Sakura was alone. Ino was her first real friend and her other friends were more Ino's than hers. After they watched the fireworks at the festival, Sakura approached the young Hyuuga one day, asking her if she could sit next to her. The raven-haired girl had accepted, and it was the start of their friendship, the girls trying to encourage each other to talk to their crushes. Weirdly enough, Sakura had spent some time with Sasuke, and Naruto, for study session but the young Uchiha would ignore her or glare at her when she was better than him.

"Do you know why people are mean to Naruto? It's not as bad as it was when he was an orphan, but my parents told me not to be his friend. I find him annoying and stupid but...isn't it too harsh?"

"I...don't know...Fa...Father does no...not like him either," her friend replied, with a tint of sadness in her voice.

Sakura sighed, gathering her questions about the _The History of Konoha volume 3: From the Second War to the Third War_ , to question her friend. When Naruto first came to her for Fuijutsu classes, even though he was related to their teacher, she turned him down and then accepted when he ran back to Sasuke-kun, under Ino's urging, she was just treating him like everybody else did. She did not think twice about it, he was used to it so it was okay for her. But when Sasuke-kun had told her coldly she was annoying, she found herself stupidly angry at Naruto.

Ino did not help and kept saying he was corrupting Sasuke-kun too.

She saw them at the festival, with their teacher and Naruto was laughing loudly. Even with the side-eyed glances he was given, he did not care and she found herself wondering how he was doing that. She then remembered he was used to it and felt a pang at her heart.

She had been bullied too but had her parents to tell her they loved her. Naruto had nobody for years. So with a courage she did not know she had, she walked up to him and apologized. She blushed under their sensei's grateful smile, and spent the festival with them.

After one of her session, Naruto's aunt, a kind woman with gorgeous long red locks and light gray eyes took her home.

" _Sakura-chan, thank you for apologizing to Naruto," she had told her, a happy glint in her eyes. "He only has Sasuke-kun as a friend, so you apologizing to him means a lot. He's a nice boy, just too enthusiastic and too much of a joker."_

" _You're welcome Sasaki-san."_

"In any case, my parent don't like him but since sensei left he's sad. Do you think we should try to cheer him up?"

"How?"

"I don't know...but Naruto is not mean and always talking, it's weird he's so silent now..."

Hinata nodded thoughtfully. Her father explained to her the circumstances of Akane-sensei's departure of the village, told her she was going to be one of the only ones aware and that it had to stay this way. That it would be a good lesson of how the shinobi world worked. To the young girl, it was how unfair it was. She liked Akane-sensei, she always told her that it was not because she could not do something immediately that she was bad, and that succeeding after a lot of efforts felt like a bigger achievement than succeeding right away, no matter what others said.

"Let's fi...finish studying fi...first Saku...Sakura-chan," Hinata stuttered, a light blush on her face.

"You're right. Then we'll find something to cheer Naruto up. And...we can say it was all your idea..."

She blushed furiously. Naruto-kun...smiling and thanking her...

"Hinata-chan please don't faint!" Sakura asked her, starting to panick.

"Na...Naruto-kun..." she kept mumbling to herself, not paying attention to civilian girl in front of her.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :)**

 **kankananime123:** **Thanks for the review, and sorry but not sorry for makin you cry x). It means it's not half bad!**

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 **Bye!**


	17. The Hidden Mist

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 17**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 12**

 **Shisui: 21**

 **Kakashi: 26**

* * *

"Rise and shine!" Akiko yelled, opening the curtain of her nephew's window.

"Five more minutes..." a sleepy Naruto answered, hugging his pillow against him.

"And here I thought you had your first test with Kakashi-sensei? Oh, maybe times have really changed after all, and future Kage don't need to be on time anymore. Or maybe Sasuke will be Ho..."

"NO WAY THAT JERK WILL BE HOKAGE 'TTEBAYO!"

He left in a hurry to go to the bathroom and Akiko sighed when she heard a body crashing into something. To graduate, he had stolen an important scroll, worrying her to death, and apparently the day just before, he ended up kissing Sasuke somehow. He still looked a little bit green when he got back. But that was also due to the expired milk he drank.

That one might have been on her.

"What do you want for breakfast?"

"No breakfast aunty!" The newly made genin got out of the bathroom, his hands not leaving his hitai-ate to put it perfectly. "Kakashi-sensei told us to come without eating!"

"I see..." she replied with a finger on her chin. She arched an eyebrow at Naruto's inquiring glance. "What, do I have something on my face?"

"No, but how do you know Kakashi-sensei? He was friend with nee-chan too!"

"Oh well we were his mission when he was your age, that's all. If you don't want to eat then scoot! Don't keep him waiting!" she told him, going downstairs.

He followed her and stopped in front of the wall next to the stairs.

"You better watch me Fubuki-nii-chan! I'm off now!"

"Be careful and have a good day!" she yelled after him, throwing him his survival bag he caught easily.

Her eyes stared at the door and then she raised them.

"Kushina, I know Kakashi-kun is a great shinobi but your son is just too much sometimes, just like you."

Naruto arrived at the training ground where Sakura and Sasuke were already waiting for him. Sakura still had a crush on Sasuke but she was his friend at school. She welcomed him with a sad smile that made him glare at his friend. Said friend ignored him. Sakura was annoying, he had every rights to tell her, and if it hurt her then she should not be a kunoichi.

"Sensei is not here?"

"Not yet," Sakura confirmed and a frightening smile appeared on her face, "by the way Naruto where were you yesterday at lunch?"

"He? Lu-lunch?"

"Yes, see," she continued, her hand on his shoulder and he fought tears from how strong her grip was, "I thought I ate lunch with Sasuke-kun but he just told me he went home. Do you have any idea of who it was?" Sasuke sent a mocking smirk in his direction. "Na-ru-to?"

"I'M SORRY SAKURA-CHAN!"

* * *

"Hyōton: Blizzard Breath!" I said with a final hand sign, gathering chakra in my chest. I blew out and I felt the new feeling of my newly mastered technique in my throat and my mouth, cooling everything down without hurting me. Blizzard came out of my mouth _,_ covering Jinpashi from head to toe.

"You...bitch!" He was about to send me explosive tags with Shibuki when Mangetsu appeared from the waterfall above, Hiramekarei's blade filled with chakra and simply just huge. Jinpachi saw it too late and I covered my eyes, my feet glued to the rocky ground, when the two swords clashed together.

I waited a moment for the smoke to disappear. Sometimes I was wondering if Suigetsu didn't rub off on his brother, that was a big explosion. Once I could see, I rolled my eyes at Mangetsu having Jinpachi's beheaded head in his hand.

"Four down, three to go," he informed me and I threw him a scroll. I went to the headless body and sealed it in another dimension. Not a big one, but one created by a mix of chakra and seals. When you think about it, even when sealed in scrolls, things aren't really _in_ them. Fuijutsu relayed a lot on Space jutsu after all. Mangetsu sealed the blade away too. "So you think we should put a bow on the head for Yagura-sama?"

"I don't care what you do for the dwarf, he's still giving me the creeps that Jinpachi," I retorted, getting up. Mangetsu sealed the head in another scroll and joined me. "I think, and I emphasize on the 'think', that I can teleport us to my place."

"Maybe we should take the boat Uzu, it's just two islands away from the village."

"Yeah, but..." He raised a white eyebrow at me and looked up at the sky when I pointed at it. Threatening clouds were hiding the blue of the sky.

"You got a point. I'd be okay though."

"Think about poor little old me, I don't want to be swollen and blue for my report." I took his hand and raised two fingers. " _Hiraishin no jutsu!_ "

The rocky scenery we were at is replaced by a beach, then a forest and finally the familiar gray walls of my living-room. I slouched on my couch with a hand on my head and a whine of pain because of the distance I just covered.

"You're getting better."

"Getting better has been the only thing I've done for what...a year and a half now? Almost two years? I haven't slept in between training, the S and A-rank missions and hanging out with you because Dai and you can't _live_ without me."

"We've managed before, remember?" he reminded me with a smirk, grabbing my hand to drag me with him.

As usual, I got the cold and scared glances thrown at me. Beware of Yagura's apprentice, she will slice you up! To be honest, I had to do some questionable things to the civilians because of the Chief Dwarf.

The streets were as sad and cold as ever, the thick mist surrounding the village being even thicker today. I could still see the many stone buildings, all in their gray splendor, decorated with a lot of greenery thanks to the dampness of the air. I mean, Kirigakure had the potential to be a beautiful village, I _saw_ it, but for the moment it's downright depressing. We rapidly reached one of the bridges leading to the Mizukage's building and we were in front of Yagura's door before my mind could fully register it.

"Come in!" dear old Mizukage of my heart shouted. We obeyed and bowed in front of him. "Report."

"Jinpachi has been dealt with and Shibuki retrieved Mizukage-sama," I declared automatically.

"One less problem now," Yagura admitted with a nod. "Uzumaki, take care of the sword, Hozuki take care of the body."

"Very well!" we said in unison.

Once all of these were done and I was at my place, not having to go to the rebels today, who were more and more numerous, I fell on my bed. It would not be long until Mei-sensei leave the village, then Dai and so on. That is the plan, once I told sensei Yagura was manipulated. She believed me without the shadow of a doubt, which warmed my heart when I realized she truly believed in me for that.

The plan was to, for me, be the best anbu ever. Send information when I could. Being under cover. Surprisingly enough, it was easier than I thought. I learned, through Kiri's library, interesting facts about the Yuki clan. I kept denying that part of me, but deep down I knew it was useless. So I searched. The Yuki clan, whose kekkai genkai is the Ice release, had always been important in the Land of Water. Funny enough, I quickly understood they were the opposite of the Uchihas. Where the Uchihas were good with fire, we were good with ice, and water too at a certain extent. Where the Uchihas seemed cold whereas they loved so much, us Yuki are apparently friendly but extremely cold when needed, when it came to dealing with our feelings.

For me, it was under stress. I had been killing for Yagura for a while and I didn't feel anything for the moment. 'As pure as snow' it was written, I don't know for who but not for me.

Apart from this, sensei also knew the man manipulating Yagura was the one who attacked Konoha with Kurama, because the Kyubi attack was known in the whole world. At least continent. Because of that, one day I found myself with a double mission. Hard, but not so uncommon for any of her students. Geez, I'm sure even Suigetsu went with Dai at some point.

Anyway, because of that, sensei asked me to...ask help from the Leaf. She is tired of war and death too, and she knows if she can get Konoha's help, the biggest hidden village, it would help Kiri on the economical and political plans. We need considerable resources to clear our reputation, and I was not particularly fond of waiting for a world war.

I told her about that too. She said we still had time and to focus on the current matters. Hmph, I knew why she was Mizukage, which I didn't tell her about. I'm helping her so much now, so when nor me or Mangetsu were there...you bet it took longer.

I had a new found respect for Terumi Mei.

It led me to, during one of my mission, track down a famous pervert and, after getting him to listen to him and convinced him of my identity, to deliver a message to the Hokage. However, Jiraya being Jiraya and oji-chan's sensei nonetheless, figured out something was weird in my chakra, going as far as mentioning the Shinigami. It freaked me out, and he told me the Hokage told him about me.

I. Was. HAPPY.

Note the irony here.

But as far as I knew, sensei had taken the matter of Jiraya in her own hands. Kept me updated enough.

Recently told me Naruto and Sasuke had graduated along Sakura.

I took my pouch off and grabbed a kunai in it to inspect the seal graved in it. I mastered Hiraishi and was working on choosing the priority next.

Or I could work on a slight variation to be able to also teleport people when I don't touch them.

Or I could use my kunai, beautiful Kirigakure-styled kunai where the blade curved inward on one side, to potentially put my elemental storage seals or any seals where the kunai goes.

So many possibilities!

"Oji-chan, what should I do?" I asked in the air.

I frowned when nobody answered. No, no I know I'm not crazy.

"Come on oji-chan, I'm sorry! Don't pout!"

" **I'm not pouting,** " came the answer in my head.

I closed my eyes and gathered chakra in my seal, feeling it warming up. When I opened my eyes, oji-chan was in front of me with a stern look on his face.

To put it simply I had a trip to Uzushio. Weirdly enough, on Yagura's orders. In the submersed library of the clan, protected by beautiful seals, I found so much on my seal. Including that with work and a lot of chakra and chakra control, you could potentially communicate with the souls already trapped by the Shinigami.

Kurama was useful, it was like his chakra was a thread I needed to follow. Thus why I was met with the stern blue eyes of my godfather.

"Don't pout oji-chan, you know you're my Kurama to my Naruto! My Kurama to my Kushina! My Isobu to my Yagura! My Shukaku to my Gaara!"

"Are you done?" I shot him a sheepish and innocent look.

"My Saiken to my Utakata-senpai?" He sighed. "If you're not pouting then what?"

"I'm worried. Not that...I don't agree with Mei-san's rebellion because I've seen it was needed but...what does Yagura want to achieve by asking you to train with Nuibari?"

"Don't know, once he's out I stop. I'm fine with my good old katana." I frowned at the glint in his eyes. Worry and wonder. He's thinking about something. "Please, you made me agree to the 'no sex' rule as long as you're sealed in me, so what is it now?"

"Sometimes, when you're with Yagura, I almost...hear something," Minato told me. "Maybe it's just me but...I don't know. Kyubi's chakra had a reaction after being close so much so maybe the Sanbi can feel me?"

"Hum...the Shinigami seal is a representation of Death itself, a proof I bought my way into a second life, maybe it sees straight through a jinchuriki's seal? In Kiri they're a lot more loose than yours too," I though out loud, holding my chin. "Yagura's been acting weird too ever since I came back from Konoha. Sometimes it's almost as if..."

"He was trying to tell you something through Obito's genjutsu," he finished for me seriously. "It is a possibility, if he's busy with the Akatsuki, that he stopped watching the events in Kiri as much as before and his genjutsu starts weakening. Yagura is powerful and a jinchuriki, so he might see through the cracks and tries to send you a message?" I opened my mouth but nothing came out. The Uchihas are alive, no Itachi in the Akatsuki, he must be busy then and...Fuck, Minato may be right.

"If that's the case, it could mean Yagura is trapped in his own mind. That we could, I could reach him, maybe thanks to the seal."

"If possible, you should go back to Uzushio, look into the relation between jinchuriki and your seal."

"Thinking about it," I continued, memories of Gaara flashing in my mind, "Shukaku felt me. He didn't like it, said I was thinking I was God or something. Even Utakata-senpai told me I was different when I came back."

"Akane..."

"I know. I need to verify our theory. Fuck, why are the Uzumakis so insane?"

* * *

"I have an important mission for you."

"What's new in here?"

Yagura glared at me and Naoto-senpai coughed next to me. "Since Orochimaru tried to take a genin of the village for his own benefits, I've been keeping tracks of his whereabouts." You or the Akatsuki because he betrayed them? Did he betray them here too although? "He has founded a hidden village in the Land of Sound, before called the Land of Rice Fields."

"So he still keeps a close eye on Konoha then?" his son deduced, to which Yagura nodded. If there was one thing good with him, manipulated or not, was that he was good at giving us missions with the most details possible, making them quicker for us.

"I want you to go there undercover and collect information. I have a bad feeling about him having his own village. You will leave tomorrow, the length of the mission will depends on what you learn, but won't exceed a month. You will be close to the Land of Fire, so try to avoid contact with Leaf shinobi. I don't want them to see Uzumaki right now." The last bit was directed at Naoto. It would not surprise me if they knew I was alive, but well. I don't want to fight anyone either, especially not an Uchiha. No sharingan for me, no thank you.

"Shall I take my dispositions to hide my chakra signature?" I asked in my professional voice. Cold and as detached as possible.

"I'll let you be the judge of that," he replied, giving me a...thoughtful side glance. I raised an eyebrow at him. "Take Nuibari with you, get some real experience." My eyebrow twitched. Did he want me to kill people in Oto or what? I barely knew how to finally reach my target in shuriken jutsu and...throwing a sword with a thread...

"Understood."

Once we were outside of his office, I raised my hands to form the tiger seal.

"Akane," Naoto stopped me and I glanced at him, his pink eyes focused on the wall in front of him, "we need to speak."

"Hand on my shoulder." He obeyed and I teleported us at my place. I activated the soundproof seals around my apartment to be sure to be in peace. Naoto, even if he was Yagura's only son, was with the rebellion. He never understood his dad's rule and wanted it to stop. "You found something?"

He nodded and gulped loudly, his Adam's apple following. Naoto handed me a small notebook, used and probably filled already. The cover was a dark navy blue with written 'Yondaime Mizukage: Karatachi Yagura' on it. However, the name seemed to have been crossed multiple time and written over, and it appeared it happened many times.

"When he became the Mizukage, Sanbi was already sealed in him and he wanted to write his journey as a Mizukage and a jinchuriki. He...he wanted to right the wrongs of the Third. You see in there the changes in...him," he explained to me quietly.

I started reading it. Everything was...normal, and so not like Yagura. It was...I mean, Yagura seemed to care about the village. He wanted to show them a jinchuriki could lead a village too. I felt a cold anger washed over me, I wished to have Obito's neck in my hands and just snap it.

It was like that for a few pages, which were years for Yagura where he could not do anything on the surface for the Bloody Mist, and then nothing for a couple of pages.

I bite my bottom lip when I saw the date when the writing started again. It was around the time I was in Konoha, maybe my second year. It was complicated to make sense of anything he wrote. It was words, 'Uchiha' was scribbled multiple times. The more I read, the more I could make sense of what was written, and the more the dates were close to the present time.

Uchiha.

Trapped.

Madara.

Kyubi.

Konoha.

Akatsuki. Akatsuki. Akatsuki.

 _Rin_.

How did Rin die exactly anyway?

" **Shortly after the war. She was abducted by Kiri and made into the jinchuriki of Sanbi. Kakashi rescued her but she threw herself on his Chidori. They wanted to use her to destroy Konoha,** " Minato-oji-chan filled me in. I wonder if Naruto always felt this weird when Kurama would speak to him. But did I know that before? Did I forget it?

I frowned at the last things written. It was not long ago. However, what bugged me was the fuin symbols. I taught them to Mei-sensei so that she could communicate with Jiraya without troubles, but I did not know Yagura knew them. Or could it be Isobu told him if they were trying to talk to us?

"What does it say? Is dad..."

"Right..." I went to my table and took a paper and pen to translate. It wasn't even recent fuin but old one. The kind there was at Uzushio. Once I was done, after half an hour, my eyes re-read what I wrote.

"So?"

"Ya...he's under a powerful genjutsu. He is trying to break through on his side with Sanbi because it started to have cracks in it. He...he said..."

"What!?" he snapped at me, pink eyes filled with impatience.

"He's asking us to save the village from him," I said quietly. "He's asking us to get rid of him for the village. That the only thing he can do now as the Mizukage is trusting us in stopping him, that...that _it's the last S-rank mission he will give us_."

He dropped on his knees, his eyes wide open staring at me. That, Naoto, was the guy who took me to the Academy test, who would try to patch me up after thos harsh training sessions and helped to shape me into the kunoichi I was today.

Now I had a child who was realizing his dad had been used. Whose dad was trying to help us. It explained why I felt like something was off since I came back.

Yagura was trying to free himself. Yagura was sowing hints.

And those words he wrote above...was what he learned about the one who put him in this genjutsu.

A wry smile found its way onto my lips. Even trapped inside a genjutsu, even under the sharingan, Yagura ended up finding a way to gather information, to help us.

He was the Yondaime Mizukage. Somehow, I had a feeling this notebook had never been found in my first life, hence the opinion the random people, including Kagura, on Yagura. With this...we can, maybe, clear his name a little bit.

I squeezed the notebook in my hand.

"Where did you find it?"

"He came to my place the other day, didn't get why. He...left it."

"It must have been one of his 'lucid' moments," I declared. "We need to get this to sensei when we're out of the village."

* * *

"I will never eat rice ever again," I muttered under my breath, eyeing my rice balls with disgust, "seriously."

"Pinch your nose and swallow i,." Naoto whispered to me, trying to pry a bug out of his shoulder-length grayish hair.

I groaned like a kid and moved my mask to eat. We were on our way from Oto. Annoying, seedy, I could have lived a day without going. I mean, you could see the inhabitants had been under Orochimaru's hands at some point. We didn't find anything really, except a Suna nin leaving around the same time as us.

I had hope there would be no attacks, but I guess not. However, we got confirmations Orochimaru was no longer in the Akatsuki, which from how Yagura seemed to dislike him was kind of obvious. But once again, Yagura did not like a lot of people. He liked money and taking it from people, but not said people.

Once we were done eating, we went back in the trees, jumping from branches to branches with chakra infused speed. So far, we had not seen any Leaf shinobi and I was perfectly fine with it.

"Four chakra at two o'clock, put on your seal, their chakra reek warmth and ember for three of them, blaze for the fourth one," he informed me, his sensors senses in action. He once told me every sensors senses chakra differently. For him, it was through smells and by said smell he could deduce the village and chakra nature even. Let's just say you might be a wind type in Konoha, it is still the Land of Fire so your chakra will always have a faint tint in it.

"A genin squad then," I said, taking a tag from my back pouch. I slid it under my black thermal waterproof long-sleeved shirt, itself under my gray flak jacket. I then proceeded to do the ram seal and I felt the warmth of the seal wrapping itself around my chakra system to conceal it.

But the question was which one. One of Naruto's promotion? Gai's team? How awkward it would be if I saw one of my old student.

"Stop."

I obeyed and stayed hidden in the leaves of the tree. I could spot blond hair, but lighter than Naruto's.

Great, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. And their team leader...who was it again? I know Shikamaru told me before...Mirai's dad...Sarutobi something...Sarutobi...

"Asuma-sensei, is there something wrong?" the Akimichi asked when his sensei stopped.

Asuma! Sarutobi Asuma! Killed in action and left Kurenai-san pregnant!

Oh shit, is he looking at us?

Shikamaru followed his gaze with a confused expression on his face whereas the two others were oblivious to the presence of two foreign anbu a few meters from them.

"Nothing important," he finally told them as we did not make a move.

They started moving, and so did we in a different direction as we were heading for the coast, and the tension in Asuma's shoulders evaporated when he realized us crossing paths was a coincidence.

The trip took a week, us waiting for different boats to reach the main island. However, due to the weather, we could not take the boat from the Land of Fire to go directly to Kiri. We had to go through the Land of Waves, very poor country because of some drug dealer. On the way, we stopped by the hideout, where Mei-sensei jumped on me and told me we _had_ to have Konoha's help.

Well, maybe that after our report, Yagura will send us at the chūnin exam?

That would be fun! Okay, more interesting than fun but...but Gaara still had my blocking seal I hoped. It could avoid destruction, right?

Crap, my post-mission state was always deplorable. My thoughts just keep going everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :)**

 **Bye!**


	18. Wave Arc: Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 17**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 12**

 **Shisui: 21**

 **Kakashi: 26**

* * *

"Harusame-san, I think having Kimou put a genjutsu in your seals would increase the defenses around the hideout," I told Utakata-senpai's master, who also taught me a little about Kirigakure's sealing methods when I became a kunoichi. And since I kept him from trying to take Saiken out of their jinchuriki, because they would take it as an aggression and attack, he really valued my opinion. Hey, senpai won't leave the village at least!

"Oh, I can do that thanks to your beautiful writing darling," a feminine voice whispered in my ear, and Harusame-san chuckled. I turned around to face the deep purple eyes of our genjutsu specialist in Kiri, which were prominent thanks to her pale complexion and long pale blond hair, almost white. Before I went to Konoha, I was far from being popular. When I left for Konoha, I was fine with my team and some older ninja, like Zabuza-san.

Even though, it was mainly because with Mangetsu and Dai, we would say he was in love with sensei. But he was always coming to train Mangetsu when we were in team training, and Mei-sensei loved to flirt with him to trigger reactions!

I'm sure he actually pitied me from the look he would give me when he was showing me his killing intent. I'm sure he knew how I joined Kiri too. Now I was thinking about it...wasn't it Team Seven who killed him and his apprentice?

"The seals for the barrier will also continuously diffuse a genjutsu for camouflage," Harusame-san detailed, starting to take Kimou away. "We would need a seal for each members of the rebellion too so that they can enter without any trouble."

"Yeah, a pass, I get it," the kunoichi responded with a roll of her eyes as she knew she had work to do.

Harusame-san is good to have around. As he officially defected the village six months ago, around the time he wanted to remove the Rokubi, I can let him in charge of the defense here.

Anyway, from my promotion, we were only four left. My whole team, and Kimou. There were not a lot of students to graduate from the Academy anyway, and with the missions not a lot of them got promotion. Kimou was one of the people who would despise me just because I was Yagura's apprentice. We had a mission together when I was promoted jounin and she was still a genin, She saw my Ice Release and hated me more because I wasn't killed.

Let's just say she had a colorful vocabulary, like many shinobi in Kirigakure. When I got back, sensei instated a second test of her own to see who would join us and who would stay with Yagura.

Because there will always be people who will find benefits for them in the worst system possible. Sensei was excellent at detecting who would help us or not. Kimou passed the test, saw me save her life and ever since she's MIA for the village, had been...

Hitting on me. She was the kind of person who did not care about what people thought and when she wanted something she was...well... _clingy_.

I teleported to the training ground where Yagura was already waiting for me.

"What took you so long?" he grumbled and opened his eyes to look at me.

"Nuibari. With my aim as legendary as Princess Tsunade's luck, it's tricky," I replied with a deadpan expression because it was an excuse he bought every time. At least I think, because from the number of time he made fun of me for my aim...But I'm good now!

"Let's start then," he decided and got up, to change immediately in his Version 2 form, three tails formed. I tightened the black cloth of my forehead protector and summoned my katana, not needing a flat surface anymore to do so.

" _Oji-chan, focus._ "

" **Already on it.** "

I covered my blade with wind chakra and sharpened it whereas he was charging me already. Fast, Yagura was fast normally, but even more in his jinchuriki form. I sent a wind blade to him and he destroyed it with a flip of one of his tail. I jumped back, close to the edge of the platform.

This training ground, I knew it all too well. Different natural rock platforms of different height in the mountains close to the village, with a huge lake at the bottom. Yagura's perfect playground. Mine too. Hopefully, mist was rarely here.

Hopefully, this place was filled with my special kunai, hidden of course thanks to the rocky surrounding. Having the Yondaime Hokage giving you advice even when you did not want to was useful. I would have forgotten to do that otherwise, and I was paranoid. But oji-chan had a point. There would be a fight during the coup, being able to go anywhere in the village in the blink of an eye would be useful and a lifesaver.

So as he was preparing a modest Tailed Beast Ball, I threw many wind blades to him, with no effect because of his coral protection. The ball was sent, and I disappeared when it was a meter from me, appearing two platforms below, against the mountain. I heard Yagura's thundering laugh above, mixed with a bit of a different voice.

Water was as much my element as his. The air was humid enough to use my Ice Realease. From the sound I just heard, Yagura walked on one of my explosive seals I put when I moved away from him earlier.

I put my hand on the wall for a storage seal and placed back my katana. It wouldn't be useful here. Yagura would only break it in his Tailed Beast form.

I frowned when mist appeared, filled with deadly chakra. He went back to his regular form then. Focus Akane, you know how to deal with Yagura.

I executed a series of hand seals.

"Fuuton: Passing Typhoon!" I blew a huge wind, dispersing the mist and I ducked when Yagura's club was too close for comfort, said club replacing my head. Of course he would come to hand-to-hand combat when I put my katana away, you moron.

" **Put a marker for Hiraishin on him when you can,** " came Minato's voice in my head as I kicked him, my foot meeting his club, and jumped away. I executed some seals and ice senbon formed around him. He destroyed them with his weapon and I teleported way in front of him, the end of the platform meters away from me whereas I was crouched on the wall.

"Suiton:Water Dragon Bullet Technique!" I shouted with the last seal and a water dragon rose from the lake under us. I formed the dog seal then and Yagura widened his eyes, Sanbi's chakra starting to appear. "Hyoton: Freezing Technique!"

The water dragon froze instantly as my chakra was running in it and charged Yagura. I squinted because of the explosion, the ice dragon smashed into pieces by a not fully formed Tailed Beast Ball, and another was coming my way. I raised a water shied and froze it too, said shield falling into pieces after the collision, and Yagura right in my face. He punched me in the stomach and I spat, noticing his beast chakra gone once again, and I grabbed his hand. He pushed me away and threw me in the lake, my back smashing against the water violently.

But I put my marker on his hand. Marker much more subtle than oji-chan.

" **Hey!** "

" _You enjoyed making me nauseous,_ " I accused him and made a familiar hand seal old Naruto loved to make. A shadow clone, I should thanks the Kakashi of that time for that one, appeared next to me and swam to the surface whereas I swam behind the lowest platform. Yagura trained me well, and I knew that when I said to my teammates I could go against Yagura's Beast form they could barely believe it, but it takes a lot on my chakra, even my Uzumaki chakra. I could do Hiraishin, but I was still working on it to reduce its toll on my chakra.

Damn Yagura the perfect jinchuriki. Damn the fact he goes from normal to full jinchuriki mode in the blink of an eye. I had to adjust from distance to close range combat in the blink of an eye too, and changing so fast of style was tiresome. Especially when the Mizukage didn't want to let you have an opening.

This time I didn't have coral blocking me though, so that was good.

I felt my clone disappear, and her failed attempt at immobilizing him made me curse under my breath.

I got out of the water and Yagura was waiting for me on it. I took a seal kunai and threw it. He deflected it, of course, and I teleported to it. Now above Yagura, I froze the water on my fist and smashed it on his head, sinking him in the process. I jumped back on the platform and looked strangely at my fist, out of breath.

Actually, I didn't freeze the water on it. I poked my flesh, burned flesh thanks to Isobu's chakra, and widened my eyes when I noticed it was solid inside.

How the hell did I freeze the inside of my hand!?

"Sanbi's chakra is not infecting yours." I jumped and glanced at Yagura, soaked to the skin and hair stuck to his forehead. He was walking to me with no fighting intent as I had won. Today, it was my win if I could hit him good at least once. "Was it an accident?"

"Yeah..." I mumbled. I tried to unclench my fist and winced when I barely moved a finger. It was completely frozen inside.

"Go get a medic to look at that, you could lose your hand," he ordered me and I nodded, teleporting at my place. I rushed to the hospital, the biggest cylindrical building in the village.

As usual it was not crowded. Only the highest class could afford to go to the hospital. It was a miracle actually Dai managed to get iryo-nin training knowing he was from the lowest of the lowest class.

I admired Mei-sensei so _so_ much. She was my hero from now on, screw you oji-chan.

" **Hey!** " his voice yelled in my head for the second time today and I smirked at his offended tone.

" _We really need to figure out how to cut off the connection sometimes._ "

" **Agree, I can't take your 'Utakata-senpai' anymore.** "

" _He's awesome_ and _handsome! Have you seen his amber eyes!?_ "

" **Not happening. With him, or Shisui-kun. Not with anyone!** "

" _Adorable, you think you still can tell me what to do. I've forgotten how overprotective you were._ "

" **I have my reasons Aka-chan!** " Here goes the pet name. " **I'm a man, I know what goes through their head and...** "

"Dai I need hel..." Instead of my teammate, Ruka was in front of me. She was a slim woman with fair skin, black eyes, and shoulder-length brown hair. I kept myself from sighing at the intimidated look in her eyes. "Where's that idiot?"

"In surgery, there was an accident at the weapon factory. Someone got his arm torn in half," she explained to me and eyed my bad hand. "Are you..."

"Training with chief dwarf, I think I created a kinjutsu and froze the inside of my hand. I can't move it."

"Follow me Uzumaki-san." I found myself on an examination table and Ruka approached a hand to mine, hers glowing in green chakra. I stopped her though, remembering my weird chakra now.

"No offense, but I don't react well to foreign healing chakra Ruka." She stopped and shot me a curious look. "I react well with Dai's, I'll wait. But I was thrown in the water at high speed though, could you look at my back?" She nodded reluctantly, the iryo-nin in her not buying my excuse. Dai got himself a good kouhai.

When Dai got back, emerald eyes lacking the usual spark of warmth in them, in the room, said room being the one where he always was, he sighed at my goofy grin as I was putting my shirt back on.

"What the fuck did you do this time? Don't tell me, chief dwarf." Ruka squeaked at how we were casually bad mouthing our dear old Mizukage, even if she already heard us and Mangetsu, and Suigetsu too, at the hideout. "You look pretty good for once."

"It was a short training, smashed him on the head and now my hand is frozen." Ruka gasped behind me and Dai raised an eyebrow.

"You...you managed to hit Mizukage-sama?" she asked with disbelief in her voice.

"Yep. It was tough to get close enough, but yeah. Let me go here by myself too, and he told me I could lose my hand as if it was nothing." Dai sat on a chair and rolled in front of me, hand glowing with green chakra to check my hand. "He doesn't beat me to a pulp like before though, so that's good."

"Less practice for me," my teammate muttered under his breath. "How did you freeze the inside of your hand? What's under the epidermis is completely frozen even if I feel it melting but very slowly. I'll fasten the process but it will burn." I bit the inside of my cheeks when the thermal shock inside my hand appeared. It hurt, it was uncomfortable, it was awful. It lasted a dozen of minutes but I could move my hand. "Move." I did and winced in pain. "Yeah, internal chakra burns."

"I thought you knew what to do!"

"Beat me, I never had to unfreeze the inside of the human body before!" he replied sarcastically. "Don't use that shit again! It froze everything, blood circulation, bones, everything but a little bit of your chakra system. You could have lost a limb if it had lasted longer, could have developed hypothermia and I need to make a exam of your hand to see if you had not done any damages to your bones."

"I created a kinjutsu, congratulations to me!" I cheered all alone, the other two staring at me with despair. "Oh come on!"

Training with Kakashi for two years and a half, almost three years. An entire life before this one, where Itachi made me train for a 'solid self-defense'. An entire life where I had to maintain a certain level in my skills when I was raising my kids even though I was retired.

I really see how the Uzumakis got so strong and feared now.

And I screw deeply all of the geniuses in the world who get strong very fast. Yeah, literally with old Itachi.

"More seriously though Uzu, take some rest," Dai advised me. "I know you're sadly used to chakra exhaustion, and being worn off basically, because of Mizukage-sama, but I fear even your Uzumaki genes might not be able to save your ass one day."

"I rest on intel gathering mission."

"One day Mangetsu and you will be the death of me."

* * *

"Well, I know which mission to give you now," Yagura droned, eyeing my bandaged hand with boredom, "you can't deal with the Daimyo's daughter with one hand knowing your love for her."

That pest. The Daimyo always asks shinobi to go _entertain_ his daughter. Being the apprentice, it became a punishment for me through the years. Telling me I was ugly, single forever, weak, a woman shouldn't fight...

The little _bitch_.

"But you can handle an assassination." God blesses Yagura's logic. Must be an easy target. "A-rank, the ant ruling the Land of Waves. He tried to make a fool out of me, kill him, bring me the head or a proof, make it painful, whatever but make him understand he should not have tried to fight me."

"Gatō right? Consider it done."

It did not take a lot of time to reach the Land of Waves. From the Intel Yagura gave me, it didn't surprise me either to find myself having to infiltrate the country, as people could not get in. I stayed in the holds of the ship, placing my chakra concealing seal on me and put my hitai-ate away, one rebel auburn locks falling between my eyes to end its way of the right side of my nose. My hair was still doing what it wanted, because I stopped trying to tame it. Straight, curly, whatever because such proximity with humidity didn't do well with it. I just kept it short, shoulder-length, and that was it.

" _By the way, during training..._ "

" **Whether or not the one you fought knows about your seal, Sanbi felt it. I'm pretty sure he tried to link itself...** " I felt annoyance at the 'itself' and directed it at Minato. " **himself,** " he corrected as shouts were heard above about us reaching the shore soon, " **to me. Almost like a cry for help. It makes sense with that notebook Naoto found. I never had the time to really study the state of the mind of a jinchuriki when I was alive, but bijuus are basically mass of chakra. It would not be surprising if there was a whole plan or dimension within their mind.** "

" _Old Naruto told me in death-like situations, he was in a weird place with water on the ground, and Kurama in a cage. There was a lock, it was the seal you made._ "

" **If a jinchuriki can see the bijuu inside of them like you sometimes do with me, then Yagura, the real one, might be hidden in there.** "

" _Oji-chan, I need you to focus on that please._ "

" **It was my intention. Focus on the rebellion for now.** "

I blended in the mass with no problem. My collect of information was going as I expected it to go; not a lot of useful things and scared people telling me not to ask about Gatō.

I was not going far, Gatō's place location still a mystery to me. However, the country was not big, I could search by myself if I really did not find anything.

Well, chief dwarf said he was well hidden and to do it all by myself. Not to come back if I fail.

It's so good to feel loved~.

"Hi," I greeted the two people in the shop. They both looked at me with mistrust. C'mon, I was wearing civilian clothes and had my killing intent under control! "could I have...an apple?" I asked after glancing at the choices, said choices being even less than expected. They were really poor. The guy behind the counter almost threw it at me. "Can I ask why there is so little choice?"

"If you came here then you know, you're clearly not from here girl. Go home and run away from that _sheatfish_." Oh, the same slang than in the Land of Water. Basically, we say that for someone who goes somewhere and starts destroying everything and eating anything weaker than them. Perfect for that man.

"Nobody tried to fight back?"

"A guy did, he was publicly executed," the merchant told me.

"In front of his family too, poor boy," an elderly woman added. "I heard Tazuna left this morning for Konoha, to look for help for the bridge."

"Konoha? I guess it's better than Kiri and their bloodthirsty Mizukage but there's no way Tazuna has the money for strong ninja."

I left the store quietly and gave the apple to a kid on the street. Konoha? Will I run into Konoha? But apparently that Tazuna fellow doesn't have a lot of money so...

I stopped in the middle of the street with a deadpan expression on my face. The logical thing to do would be to hire a genin team for a C-rank mission.

Old Naruto told me they met Zabuza-san in the Land of Waves.

I was in the Land of Waves.

I facepalmed.

Was I going to interfere in their mission?

I went back to my inn quickly and once in my room, took a scroll and my ink bottle along with my brush. If Zabuza-san really was around here, I could try to get him for the rebellion. He tried once already, why not twice?

I sealed the scroll and cut my thumb with a kunai.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

A small wolf appeared in a puff of smoke. He executed a back-flip when he saw me. He was a dark brown with big brown eyes, small for an adult wolf, and had a deep brown leather bag on each side of him.

"What's up Akane? Need me to deliver something?" he asked in a joyful voice.

"Yeah. I need you to deliver this to Mei-sensei as fast as you can Uma. At the hideout of course." He nodded and I pat him on the head. "I'll have to teleport you there though because of the sea, but I'm sure you'll find your way back." I put my marker on him, knowing there was one at the hideout, and slid my pass tag in one of his bag.

"Gotcha!"

I made the tiger seal and closed my eyes to focus. I ordered Uma to cover himself with chakra just in case and let my chakra guide me. I can feel all my markers as they're all connected to me. It just asks time and concentration to get to them.

After thirty minutes I sent Uma to sensei. I promptly fainted after, my face covered in sweat.

* * *

"HEEEE!? What are you doing here Aunty!?" Naruto yelled and his teammates plugged their ears.

"If you could stop talking so that I can explain Naruto," Kakashi answered in his indifferent voice, eye glued to the text in his book. "Good. Since fuinjutsu became a class at the academy, Hokage-sama made some changes in the genin programs. However, the class stopped after two years and only the Academy students who have the basics of the basics are affected."

"We are going to learn fuinjutsu?" Sakura inquired.

"Yes and no, Sakura-chan," the Uzumaki woman answered with a polite smile that made Naruto shiver, "at the Academy my daughter taught you the basics for storage seals in scroll. I know Naruto and Sasuke already know some fuinjutsu, but today I will teach you how to deactivate some elementary seals."

In Team 10, the Nara had been the first to catch on how to do it, even though his chakra control was not good enough to deactivate immediate seals. For Team 8, the young Hyuuga had no troubles as Akane spent her time teaching her that, and could help her teammates. The Aburame understood fast thanks to his female friend and used his insects the same way she used her Byakugan.

Now was time for the most problematic team to go through it too.

"The latent ones, right?" Sasuke asked, obviously interested. "We don't have the level for any immediate one."

"Exactly. Unless you have the ability to see the flow of chakra inside the seal or you have an incredible chakra control, or you're an Uzumaki..." Naruto beamed at that and grinned at Sakura, who was still staring at Sasuke in awe. "...you won't be quick enough."

"Come on, the first one to succeed wins."

"What!? What's the prize!?" Naruto inquired, stars around him as he was harassing his sensei.

* * *

I snorted in slight disgust as Uma was getting starting on the bones of the poor rabbit I hunted beforehand, Mei-sensei's reply in my hand. I had another sealed scroll for Zabuza-san, apparently he would know how to open it.

Another double mission on my hands. Kill sheatfish, and convince Zabuza-san to join us.

Zabuza-san who got killed before and that I needed to save.

I was so gonna hurt his pride.

Uma disappeared and I made four shadow clones to start searching for sheatfish, and I started to look for Zabuza-san. This was going to be interesting.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :)**

 **kankananime123: Thanks for the review :) and no, the Mist was not in the Chuunin Exams in Canon~.**

 **Bye!**


	19. Wave Arc: Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 17**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 12**

 **Shisui: 21**

 **Kakashi: 26**

* * *

My chakra concealing seal on, I was hiding myself in the trees, full anbu outfit on, my hurt hand finally useful again. My katana was on my back though for once, and the weight was making me uncomfortable. I did my best to ignore it as I was staring at the big structure supported by the trees around for the sixth consecutive hour. The happiness of being a shinobi and having to wait.

Yesterday there was nothing.

The day before either.

Actually it was only today I saw two silhouettes going inside really. That structure was too strange to be left alone.

I spotted a group of people going inside and I decided to get closer. I jumped and glued myself to the big column next to it with my chakra. I moved a little to get a look inside. Even with the setting sun outside, I spotted my target with two thugs with him.

He really was a sheatfish.

My mouth formed an 'o' when the teenager with Zabuza made them run away. He body flickered pretty fast to stop the swords of the thugs.

He was good that kid. He was dressed like an oinin too. It seemed like he was taking care of Zabuza-san, who was in bed. I bet he had an encounter with Kakashi already.

I could kill Gatō now but decided otherwise. I knew Zabuza-san would be a good person to have by our side, but I did not know about the kid.

I was going to stay hidden and stalk him to see if he was good. If Zabuza-san took an interest in him he must be good but I wanted to be sure.

I was sure of one thing though. He was _pretty_.

Too much actually.

Now I was jealous.

* * *

I stopped breathing and went on the ground to hide behind a tree. Did Zabuza-san really sense me!? We call him a demon but still!

I spotted the teen leaving the place, not dressed as an oinin but in a pink sleeveless yukata. I felt blood rushing to my face. I mean, I said Itachi was a prettier girl than me when we were five but the teen is something else and without Uchiha genes!

I think.

I body flickered in a splash of water closer to follow him. Still from a good distance because I was sure he would be able to sense me if I was letting my guard down. It was early morning, the sun shining bright in the sky. It made me groan internally. Shinobi are better in the shadows. How do you want to hide with the sun above you in a green and colorful clearing when you're dressed in gray and black!

I frowned behind my mask when I felt him get on his guards out of sudden. I followed his gaze and kept myself from facepalming. Now, why was Naruto sleeping with not a care in the world in the middle of the forest during his mission alone was beyond me. From the mark on the trees though, I guessed Kakashi had been teaching them to climb trees, but why was Naruto alone? I thought I told him many times resting properly was the first step to an efficient training. Or was it to Sasuke because of all the burns he had?

Who knew, the point was I was ready to intervene if needed. The teen was associated with Zabuza-san, it was enough for Kiri to attack him. At my own surprise, he woke Naruto up and they picked up some herbs. For Zabuza-san I supposed.

"Yeah, I know that well too 'ttebayo." I heard Naruto's voice say beneath my branch and it got me out of my thoughts. What were they talking about?

The teen picked up his basket. "You'll get strong." Naruto approved. "I hope we meet again somewhere." He started leaving and stopped. "Oh...and...I'm a boy." Bingo! From Naruto's astonished expression, he thought the opposite.

I went back to following him and watched him pass by Sasuke and not turn around unlike the little Uchiha. Hum...from their clothes, they should pretty much be the same than in that picture there was at old Sakura's house.

"Naruto, Sakura asked me to give you this," Sasuke droned at my cousin. He threw what looked to be bandages at the center of his hitai-ate, strong enough to make Naruto fall backward.

Said Naruto got up fast, eyes filled with anger and an accusing finger pointed to him. "TEME!"

Ma, they should be alright.

Later that day, I went back at the clearing, to witness Naruto bragging to Kakashi and Sakura. But he was upside down a branch and lost focus. Sasuke caught him just in time. As Sakura was screeching Sasuke awesome, I felt a change in Kakashi's posture, who was using a crutch. Yep, he tensed and peeked behind him.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled, wanting his sensei's attention on him.

"Yeah?"

I sighed and went on a higher branch, still keeping an eyes on the kids whereas Sakura and Kakashi started leaving. Or more like I thought so but I found myself with a kunai on the throat.

Kakashi sent a shadow clone huh...

"Why is a Kiri anbu here when there is one of their missing-nin not far from here?" he asked me with the death threat in his voice perceptible. His killing intent was enough on its own.

"I'll talk to the real you Kakashi," I replied nonchalantly, not bothering to change my voice. Our missions didn't clash with each other from what I gathered in town. "Come at the inn."

I stabbed the clone and he quickly dispersed in a puff of smoke.

I would go back spying on the two mercenaries after my meeting with Kakashi. Meanwhile, I should take a break. Using pills to stay awake for spying was good but my body was reaching its limit.

* * *

I was dressed as a civilian once more and was relaxing in my room. That mission would end soon, I could feel it in my bones. Once I had a talk with Kakashi, I would go back to my spying.

"Girly, it's been a while," a gruff voice said and I noticed Pakkun at my window, "I thought you were dead."

"People in Konoha still think that?" I asked in a surprise voice.

"After my fight with Zabuza and that oinin I realized it was a possibility for you to be alive though." I turned around to see Kakashi. He was tense and his eye had this menacing glint in them. "Now the question is why are you here and why were you spying on my team?"

"I was merely taking a look at their training, you're not the one I'm after Kakashi."

"From the drop of the honorific, I guess the Mizukage strangely forgave you for being in Konoha," he said and glanced at my anbu mask next to me.

"I'm his dirty little secret and secret weapon, he wouldn't have killed me after spending so much time training me personally," I replied with a wry smirk at the corner of my lips. "Don't worry, I want nothing to the bridge builder. Yagura asked me to kill Gatō, that guy made fun of him and he didn't like it."

"Then I guess as an anbu from the Mist you know about a certain missing-nin from your village."

"Who do you think I was spying on? I've been keeping a close eye on Zabuza-san and his little apprentice. You do your mission and I do mine. We're almost on the same side."

"I've heard about how the missing Swordsmen were being killed easily for the past two years, should I be scared of being on your blacklist?"

"Don't get in my way and we will part ways without bad blood between our two villages," I told him in a bored voice. I noticed his staring and glanced at him. Oh, he wasn't staring at me but at what I was reading. "The author gave it to me and signed it. He really wanted a feminine opinion on it."

"Sensei would kill him for giving you this," Kakashi muttered under his breath. I smirked at him with humor.

"And he would be so proud of his student who reads _Icha Icha_ in public and in front of his son," I chuckled at his inner turmoil. "You should leave now, who knows who might see a Konoha shinobi and a Mist kunoichi together."

Later that day, I went back to my spying. I stayed until it was dark and I was pretty sure the teen was sleeping, because I had just avoided a big butcher knife and he was nowhere in sight.

"Care to tell me why you've been spying but didn't try anything yet brat?" Zabuza-san asked me in his gruffly voice.

"I missed you too Zabuza-san. Mangetsu and Suigetsu are very mean when they play with their swords~," I informed him with a sigh, as if it was his fault. I took off my mask and left it on my head to put a hand on my cheek. "If Mei-sensei was here she would be very disappointed..."

"She's not here, is she?" He squinted at me and I burst into laughter. Mei-sensei had a gift to stay in people's mind because of how uncomfortable she could make them feel.

"I'm the only one here, Chief Dwarf asked me to kill your client."

"Weird, I'm pretty sure I went to your funeral with that moron who was crying next to me, and yet there you are," he hissed at me, his whole demeanor screaming at me to convince him I was not his enemy or I would not get out of here unscratched.

"Raiga cries at every funerals he goes and he goes at every funerals," I reminded him with a shrug of my shoulders.

"Yagura actually went through all the troubles to get his forced apprentice back. Do you feel flattered?" Now he was trying to know my objective here.

"I've been hunting some of your buddies with Mangetsu. Jinpachi still gave me the creep even without his body," I explained with a bored face. "It's such a joy to be at his service once again."

"You seem to be over the moon," He remarked sarcastically and I gave him a thumbs up.

"I'm not planning to hunt you down," I ended up saying in a more serious voice. "I was spying on you because of the kid, to see if he would be able to take it."

"Take what?" he inquired, seemingly interested. I threw him the scroll and he caught it with ease.

"You lighted sparks Zabuza-san. Mei-sensei thought you'd be interested in the fire," I informed him and put my mask back on. "If I know you like I think I do, you won't let Gatō live. Let me get his head please."

I body flickered away. Now it was between Zabuza-san's hands.

* * *

I caught three senbons between my fingers. That was rude.

"Leave it Haku," Zabuza-san told his student as he was knocking out the last worker on the bridge, "Uzumaki won't interfere in our fight."

"Uzumaki?" he repeated, head still raised to me as I waved at him.

"I'll enjoy the show, that's all!"

Zabuza-san grumbled something like 'fucking brat', I could feel Haku's confusion behind his mask and mist surrounded us. As for me, I made myself comfortable on one of the scaffolding. Should I try to get yogurt from here? Suigetsu loves his yogurt, and keeps saying I should bring him things from my mission because he had always been the unofficial member of our team.

More like the clingy little brother who wants to do what his brother does.

It barely reminds me of someone else.

I didn't even bother to look down when I heard voices, one unfamiliar though. I focused and arched a brow. No Naruto?

"Sorry to have kept you waiting, Kakashi," Zabuza-san started, hidden from them. We really do love drama in Kiri huh... "I see you've got those brats with you as always. He's still trembling, poor thing."

"I'm trembling with...excitement." I heard Sasuke's voice replied with confidence and, as he said, excitement.

It was starting huh...To be honest, I was more interested in Haku's techniques. I went behind the scaffolding and let myself fall. I used my chakra to glue myself on the wall and walked under it placing a detection seal in case my target was to show up, to go on the other side. With the mist and my seal, they could not spot me.

Well, Konoha and mission-san couldn't.

I poked my head over the bridge, the rest of my body glued to the wall as Sasuke and Haku started going at it. At least, from what I heard. Kakashi would take care of Zabuza-san, Sasuke of Haku and Sakura of mission-san. I kept myself from sighing. Old Sakura told me how...useless she was until the chuunin exam, and then Sasuke leaving. Anyway, I frowned when Haku made hand seals with only one hand, and after a tap of his foot, water raised around him and formed needles. I shivered at the coldnness I felt. Now, were these needles made of water or ice?

Sasuke jumped in the air and kicked Haku, who was sent flying at his master's feet. Not that I could see perfectly, I wanted to blow the mist away with the technique Yagura taught me when I got back, but it was enough to follow.

"You can't make fun of our team because we have children," Kakashi started, almost in scolding voice I'd say, "Sasuke is Konoha's number one rookie and one of the heir to the Uchiha clan. Sakura is the village's shrewdest child. And the other one likes to show off and is number one in surprising people. He's the noisy ninja Naruto." I sweat dropped. Ma, he got that right.

However, that Haku was testing the water. Good move against an unknown opponent you fight one-on-one. Haku got up and I kept myself from whistling in admiration in front of him using a technique I vaguely knew. A Hyōton technique.

"Hyoton: Crystal Ice Mirror." I heard him say as ice mirror surrounded and trapped Sasuke. That technique was a secret technique of the Yuki clan if I remember well. Not that I would know, I focused more on freezing absolutely everything and mixing Suiton and Hyoton techniques. Haku went into a mirror and Zabuza-san decided it was time to really fight Kakashi.

"Sasuke-kun, take it!"

I raised my head but from where I was I couldn't see. Sakura must have tried to help and failed.

I sweat dropped at Naruto's flashy appearance, and at Sasuke's outburst when the same Naruto sneaked up on him.

Still, I never thought I would end up meeting another member of the Yuki clan. Last time I checked, they were more extinct than the Uzumakis. I should know, I have played a minor part in it when I was made chuunin and then jounin. I shivered at the memories of blood and screams and terrified children in my mind. No matter what, what I had to do would always be on my mind. Maybe that was why old Itachi kept coming back. I didn't know anything apart from what people said about him, I never told him I was from the Bloody Mist. I bet Hoshigaki-san told him though, and that he made his own conclusions.

Fuck, I missed him so much. At least he would be able to help me in this mess that is Kiri, or just calm me down when I was starting doubting myself.

I frowned when I heard Sasuke's scream of pain, and then Naruto's. They were genin, they could deal with it, I wasn't supposed to be here anyway and they survived it so now...

They would be fine, even in this ice dome of Hell.

I yawned under my mask and froze out of nowhere. There was...a deadly chakra in the air. It was from the dome, and I could see red inside of it. Red...the chakra was familiar to Sanbi's and Rokubi's, even if I had more experience with the former.

Yep, that was Kurama.

" **The seal weakened,** " came oji-chan's voice in my head. " **It's not broken, but something has triggered Naruto.** "

The dome exploded and the chakra disappeared. I didn't know what, why, how, but now they were talking about Haku's past and how sad it was. The purges in the Land of Water he suffered from. So while they were talking, I got on the bridge and went to Sasuke. I checked his pulse and, even though there was basically none, I knew better than trusting those needles. There were more chances he was in a death-like state than actually dead.

Or, I hoped so.

I craned my neck to glance at the end of the bridge. There were people coming. Lots of people.

"I got this Uzu."

I jumped and realized that Mangetsu was right in front of me, red and white Anbu mask on his face. The fuck? Did Yagura think I was taking too long or something like that?

"Sensei's orders," he informed me as he started to get the needles out of Sasuke. I nodded and got up, not even bothering to look at Sakura or mission-san when they ran to us. "Shut up kid, I'm saving your boyfriend's life right now."

I turned my head when I heard thunder. Shit, Kakashi was about to kill Zabuza-san! I grabbed a kunai and threw it at them. As he flew, I started my water shield and was ready to freeze it between the two jounin. At the same time Haku decided to be a hero.

The kunai arrived, Haku appeared in an ice mirror. My shield was behind said mirror and I froze it.

Then, I teleported to them and jumped on Haku as Kakashi's Chidori cried.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :)**

 **Tonegawa Rie: Thanks for the review :) and Shisui will take some time to appear, sorry ;) but he will play a big part before the Shippuden part of the fic!**

 **nevvy:** **Thanks for the review :) There should be some ItaxAka moments soon for you! Thank you for liking her development too, I don't want to write a fic with a female OC just for the OC to be someone's girlfriend, bu someone with a goal. I find that very important for OCs to have something to achieve :)**

 **Oh, and concerning the ships ItachixAkane and ShisuixAkane, I'd need names if some of you would like to propose something :)! I think I'll need at some point in the fic!**

 **Bye!**


	20. Wave Arc: Final

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 17**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 12**

 **Shisui: 21**

 **Kakashi: 26**

* * *

I was staring straight into Haku's eyes. He was staring straight into the slits of my mask where my eyes were, shock evident on his face.

Then pain. For him. For me.

He grabbed his arm and rolled off of me as I held back a groan at the burn on my upper back, thinking about my move just now. As I had appeared where Kakashi was, I jumped on Haku with the intention of tackling him to the ground. But the Chidori grazed me from my shoulders blades to my neck, and Haku's arm was almost cut off. Now I could see Kakashi's hand in my ice, his face...my heart stopped for a moment. His face was purely _horrified_. Images of Rin must be filling his mind and guilt engulfed me.

"Nice one brats!" Zabuza-san howled at us. He raised his arm to strike Kakashi with his sword, who wasn't moving. I was about to get up when Mangetsu stopped Kubikiribocho with Hiramekarei. "The fuck-"

"Senpai, did you get impatient with age?" he asked in a sarcastic voice. "Or did your kid being injured made you forget the many insects coming our way?" I knew there was a reason I liked this guy. "Or you're a poor judge of character senpai, or you've waited too long to kill them. In any case, you've _fucked up_."

"When did you grow the balls to talk to me like that!?" his lovely senpai barked back. A whimper of pain made me turn to Haku, who was curling up while trying to hide his arm. I went to him and forced him to move his hand away.

I pulled a face at the sight. Most of the flesh was burned or lacerated and the bone was broken, the whiteness of it tainted by red, all of this in a bloody mess. Actually, it was a miracle his arm was still attached to his shoulder.

"And what's wrong with you huh!?" Naruto yelled taking a step forward. "Haku, he...he almost died for you and you don't even care!"

"Shut up kid!"

"No I won't!" As they went on about Zabuza-san, and Haku, and shinobi, Mangetsu walked over to us and took many tag seals from his pouch.

"Dai charged them and gave them to me before I left," he informed me as I took them. Early on, Dai made me work with him for healing seals. For cuts mainly, and then more complicated stuff I never understood, but I just needed to activate them. "I need to solder his arm first."

The one thing I would never understand with the Hōzuki's ability to liquefy themselves was how they could somehow help in surgery or in the medical field at all, but it worked. I carefully placed the seals on the parts of his arm that were okay, and executed some hand seals. Immediately, green chakra appeared.

"Shut up kid." I heard Zabuza-san said once again. I peeked at him and looked down in shame, as if I'd just witnessed something I shouldn't have. But he was crying, and it was something he definitely would never want people to see.

"Well, well, well, is that the feared 'Demon of the Hidden Mist'?" a new voice snickered. I looked up and deadpanned at my target and the small army with him.

"Moron," I mumbled as Mangetsu walked behind me once he was done. He went through my back pouch. "What the-"

"Nuibari will be more useful, and I'll pay you takoyakis for your healing seal," he explained before going to Zabuza-san and used the seal on one of his arms. "Senpai, let me have some, I'm the Second Coming of the Demon after all."

"Getting cocky I see," he remarked, and took his sword when his arm was better. Kakashi seemed to be coming back to his senses as he stopped Naruto to run over to where Haku and I were. Mangetsu invoked Nuibari and the two Swordsmen passed on each side of us, Haku having fainted from the pain at that point. "The head brat, right?"

I nodded and watched them have their fun with some low-level thugs. I winced in pain as someone knelt next to me, bumping into me at the same time. I kept my mouth shut though, reflex, because the blond head of my cousin was turned to me. His baby blue eyes were filled with worry, for an enemy, and not even suspicion toward me, who clearly was an anbu from another village. A village who had, and still had some tension with his.

Was he really that careless when he became a genin?

"Is he gonna be okay!?" he almost yelled in my face, and all I could do was shrugging. I couldn't be certain. "But you've been healing hi-"

"Naruto enough," Kakashi intervened, and I couldn't bring myself to meet his gaze. No, glare. Dark, icy and mad glare. All for me. _Oh joy_. "He may not be our enemy anymore with Zabuza's change of heart, but still."

"But he's my friend Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted back and I thought I saw Haku's brow twitched slightly.

I got up and joined Mangetsu when I heard screams of pain. Zabuza-san was having his fun with the sheatfish. He was already missing a leg and some fingers. With a hand sign to Kakashi, I made him understand they should leave. Hopefully, knowing our reputation, he managed to make his genin team to go away and I convinced myself that Sasuke did not look at me and frowned then widened his eyes as if he recognized me because he didn't.

Anywayyyyy...

"Zabuza-san, if you want to torture him cut his tongue off, please. I'm starting to have a headache," I complained as Mangetsu slapped my burned flesh. "AOUCH YOU MORON!"

"You're welcome," he replied with a, I guessed, toothy grin behind his mask, two fingers raised in front of him. I cursed him under my breath when warm chakra engulfed the wound.

"You...you're having way too much fun right now. Why are you even here? On whose authority?"

"Both. We received intel that senpai was around, he sent me to hunt him down and pick you up at the same time to help me." I wasn't a kid who needed to be picked up dammit! "And sensei for back-up. I'm already working on my excuse for Yagura, Konoha here will help." I raised a brow. If Zabuza-san was to say 'no', we would just kill him. As simple as that. "Sensei seems to be sure he will join," he added in a whisper and I ohh-ed in response.

"Oh, a flying head," I commented as I stepped back like Mangetsu to avoid a spurt of blood, the warm smell of iron filling the air and invading my nose. I finally took a look at my surrounding. A real blood bath, with dismembered bodies laying in their own blood, organs and broken bones on display. The sad thing was it didn't do shit to me anymore. Once sensei told me, when I was almost a jounin, than the worst thing that could happen to a shinobi, was apathy. Because once you're apathetic when you kill people, then you've really became a weapon.

"Haku's alive?" Zabuza-san grunted as he threw the head in my arms. I sealed it away with a nod. He was, not in the best state on Earth, but he was. "I'm coming, I won't waste an occasion to get rid of Yagura. Haku's coming too."

"You can't order us around anymore, we're anbu too," I pouted with crossed arms. With his bandages off, his sharky grin made me shiver and I looked away. "Fine, fine, I get it. Talk about a mission..."

* * *

"Yo, anbu-san!" I rolled my eyes and let my cousin sit next to me at mission-san, no Tazuna's, house. Or more like the pontoon. Zabuza-san was inside with a barely moving Haku, and Mangetsu was taking a swim in front of me. "Haku's arm is fine, thank you!" I shrugged and he made a face before standing up pretty fast, a finger pointed at me. "Hey, I'm the future Hokage so answer me 'ttebayo!" That...he was lucky it was me and not someone else or he'd be dead by now.

"Naruto shut up!" Sakura shrieked behind us. She ran to Naruto and put her hand on his mouth while he was trying to get out of her grip. I heard her whisper something to him and understood 'Bloody Mist' in it. "I...I'm deeply sorry miss for him, he always puts his foot in his mouth. Haha, don't pay him any attention!" Naruto fought harder and I caught a glimpse of Sakura pinching him at his ribs and yelped.

"Sa...Sakura-chan that hurts!" I deadpanned at them behind my mask. What the fuck was Kakashi doing? I could have killed them by no...

I caught the kunai aimed at me in the air and shot a quizzical look behind me. Sasuke still had his arm stretched, and I could feel Mangetsu paying close attention to him.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled at him in horror. I jumped on my feet as he walked to me. Kami, he was glaring daggers at me and clenching his fists at his sides. He really looked like a pissed kitty right now. Not intimidating at all.

"Hn." He turned his back to me and went inside.

"What the fuck was that?" Mangetsu wondered aloud, his head above the water as he was reforming himself. Naruto and Sakura stared at him with wonder and...disgust I think. Rude, rude kids. You could see from miles away they were just out of the Academy because of their behavior. I glanced at my teammate and signed to him we would leave in the night and he better tell it to the other two, Haku well enough to move or not.

This mission was taking too long. It would soon become suspicious with the little time Mangetsu and I usually took during our missions. I body flickered away to go in the forest. I climbed into a tree and closed my eyes to wait.

* * *

"Thank you Mangetsu-san, Uzu-san," Haku thanked us, Zabuza-san having the kid's valid arm on his shoulders as we were jumping from trees to trees. I craned my neck to look at him, a bow quirked under my mask.

"Oh man, Mangetsu told you to call me like that, didn't he?" I had never gotten rid of that nickname in my old life, I have a feeling it will be the same here. "You can call me Akane you know, apart from Naoto-senpai and sensei, nobody calls me Akane in the village. It's weird."

"You're the Fourth's brat," Zabuza-san oh so gently reminded me with a snort. I punched Mangetsu in the head when he snickered and his head turned into water.

" _Forced_ apprentice. Hoshigaki-san kidnapped me, remember? To...clear my dad's name and be a weapon for the village." I felt Haku's eyes on me. "What Haku?"

"You're more talkative now," he stated with curiosity.

"Uzu's got a little problem with Konoha. Well, more like the Mizukage has a problem." I punched Mangetsu once again. When he wanted to pick on me he was really going for it.

"Anyway, once we're at the hideout, we'll have to discuss about Haku. Zabuza-san, you can't go back to Kiri but maybe I can get Haku under Yagura's nose if..."

"I thought about it too Uzumaki," he cut me off sharply under Haku's confused eyes. Zabuza-san took a more important run-up and was next to me in a second. "Haku developed his Hyōton on his own but I don't know more about elemental kekkai genkai than the theory. I trained him well, Yagura will be interested." Haku was completely lost, and dare I say looked like a kicked puppy. After he heard Zabuza-san's speech on the bridge, because he was still conscious surprise, he had a new look in his eyes. "The brat's uses ice like you."

"I thought my old man and I were the last ones of the Yuki clan, I guess I was wrong," I added with a smirk he couldn't see. He widened his eyes and tried to form words, but I waved him off. "We can have a chat if you want to, later. The other reason you should get into Kiri is because we can't properly treat your arm if we're not in the hospital."

Zabuza-san left the money from sheatfish to the Land of Waves, as it was theirs to begin with anyway. I don't even think we will be able to properly stop by the hideout.

We ended up on a boat of fishermen going to the coast of the island of Doronko. It was one of the island surrounding the main island where Kiri was. Its name came from the many lake of mud there were on it, forming a popular spa in the Land of Water. Of course, there were also hot springs. It was a pretty cool island, better than Biu Island, where it was always drizzling. I mean, if it's gonna rain then rain for real dammit!

"That forehead protector Haku, it's real?" Mangetsu asked once we had traded boats for one going to the biggest harbor in the Land, Ryoushi. Zabuza-san was skillfully hiding his identity, my chakra concealing seal on him instead of me.

"Zabuza-san gave it to me when he judged I was strong enough to be qualify as a 'shinobi'," the youngest of us answered. Sounded like something he would do. Behind his big bad look, Zabuza-san sadly had a good understanding of what a shinobi was supposed to be. At least in Kiri. He had strong beliefs period. The kid must have seen some ugly things and done some too.

We reached the hinterland three days after leaving the Waves, thanks to the clement weather. The familiar mist was surrounding us and my sandals were trying to sleep off of my feet because of the mud and moist soil we were walking on. The swamp was as greenish and smelt as bad as ever. The smell of rotten eggs in the air was comforting though. In the swamp, with all the decomposing things there are because of the humidity, it was when you didn't smell rotten eggs that you had to worry. Thus why sensei chose this place. With Kimou's genjutsu and mine and Harusame-san's seals, plus the natural mist, if you didn't know where the hideout was, you would lose your sense of smell and bam.

The swamps in the Land of Water were deadly for anyone who didn't know their way around. Thinking about it, it could be a great location for the survival part of the chuunin exam.

We crossed the pond, covered in duckweed, to reach a certain grouping of trees among many others. Mangetsu took his seal from his pouch and put it on a trunk and executed a series of hand seals. The tag briefly glowed blue whereas I was focusing to sense any unwanted presence. I couldn't sense any, so when Mangetsu went inside with Zabuza-san and they started going down, I kept Haku from going. We all agreed, him mainly because of Zabuza-san, that he would be under my wing. Mangetsu reappeared and deactivated the tag to take it back.

"Sorry Haku, I know this is very sudden for you. Oh, and don't take offense in what we say to the Mizukage, be as indifferent as possible. We don't think that of Zabuza-san," I whispered to him as I put my hand on his shoulder, my other hand on Mangetsu's. Okay, so Hiraishin with two other people. I was used to Mangetsu, but I needed to focus for Haku. My chakra needed to cover his entirely, so that he would be transported without any consequences. It took me like thirty seconds, which was _too_ long, and we appeared not far from the village. "World...spinning..."

"You're back!" a male voice barked in front of us as Mangetsu was poking my cheek under my mask. Haku was the only one nice enough to keep me on my feet. "She can't even stay on her own two feet! Back in my days..."

"Ao-san, we know, our generation is full of lazy people who get scared at every little things," I droned in sync with Mangetsu. Ao-san flushed in embarrassment and let us pass, ordering us to report Haku immediately to the Mizukage. However, when we were at the stairs leading to the Kage building, I sat on a step and whined in exhaustion.

"Move that lazy ass of yours Uzu," Mangetsu grumbled grabbing my wrist to drag me behind him. I barely could walk honestly. Haku wasn't helping either. His face was a mix a amusement and confusion. When I say we're bloodthirsty on the surface...

"Why is there another person with you!?" Yagura barked when Mangetsu didn't even knock. I hawked and straightened up before opening the door to his office. He probably didn't want to deal with paperwork anymore, because he was just at his window. He eyed Haku icily and never broke the eye contact. "Report, now. Uzumaki you first."

I opened my scroll on the ground and slammed my foot on it, Gatō's head appearing. I felt a slight anger from Haku. Yagura nodded and looked at Mangetsu.

"I found Momochi Zabuza in the Land of Wave. He was targeting a bridge builder on the orders of the businessman Gatō. I've watched him and noticed a Konoha team protecting the bridge builder, team led by Hatake Kakashi. Zabuza and him engaged in a fight. Before I could intervene, Hatake Kakashi killed Zabuza. Unfortunately, the body was torn into strips by ninken and then thrown in the sea, Kubikiribocho was thrown before during the fight. I was enable to look for it as Gatō and many of his men arrived at our location and started a fight," Mangetsu reported professionally. "However, Zabuza trained a young child and used said child to help him since his coup. He has potential and could be a good weapon for the village. Please forgive my incompetence," he ended as he knelt on the floor. I did the same and tugged on Haku's pants to make him understand to imitate us, face towards the floor.

"You've lost...one of the sword?" Yagura slowly repeated. He walked in front of Mangetsu and I bite my lips when he smashed his club at my friend. "You're lucky to be who you are Hozūki." He turned a sharp gaze on me and snarled at me, anger barely masked in his voice. "You didn't help?"

"Unfortunately, after witnessing Haku's Ice Release and his potential for the village, I jumped in when he interposed himself between Zabuza and Hatake's chidori. I got hurt in the process and couldn't move. Forgive me as well, Mizukage-sama."

"You wanted a pet with the same curse than you then," Yagure summed up and stopped in front of me. I held a groan back as my head was crushed under his boot, the porcelain of my mask digging in the skin of my face. "Didn't I raise you better Uzumaki? The mission before everything!" I knew better than to respond and let my body relaxed, signaling he won. "You, you were Zabuza's brat. He trained you?" On the corner of my eyes, I saw Haku nodding, his eyes basically dead to anyone who sees him. "Ice Release, you'll stay with Uzumaki. If she deemed you skilled enough to save, you better not deceive me, else you'll be another forgotten name of the purge. Now all of you out of here, failures!"

I got up and dragged myself to the hospital, Haku following me closely as Mangetsu was moving his jaw to check any severe injuries.

"Sorry you had to see that Haku," I muttered, taking my mask off. I put a hand on my nose and winced in pain. I didn't realize at the time and it hurt! Probably broken. "But he didn't send you off."

"The Mizukage...I think I understand Zabuza-san's motivation now," he stated quietly, a hand over the forehead protector in his pocket.

"Kid, we're going to the hospital now," Mangetsu explained to him, as if he was never hit by Yagura and I cursed his liquefying body. "Our teammate is an iryo-nin, he'll look at your arm. There is no way Uzu and I actually did a good job at patching up someone alive."

"True," I admitted with a smirk.

Indeed, when we found Dai, he deadpanned at us and said that at least his arm wasn't falling off. He may have told Haku he would lose his sanity by staying with us too.

* * *

"Kakashi," Sasuke called his sensei as they were leaving the Land of Wave, Naruto and Sakura talking in front of them. Something was on the young Uchiha's mind and it kept bugging him. Plus, Kakashi seemed to have taken a liking playing with a kunai the female anbu had forgotten.

"Hm? Something on your mind Sasuke?"

"The woman anbu, the one who saved Haku's life..." he didn't notice Kakashi's tensing, "we know her, don't we?"

"Maa, Sasuke, unless you know someone from that village I think you're mistaken. You shouldn't go tell that to anyone though, for your own safety you know?" the jounin said. However, when he glanced at his student, Sasuke saw something in his eye, like a silent message.

A message that said _'This is way above your clearance level, drop it.'_. But Sasuke glanced one last time at his teacher. He was angry at said female anbu. So if said female anbu were to go back to Konoha, she would have to be the victim of Hatake Kakashi's wrath.

Sasuke didn't want said female anbu to come home to be killed by one of her oldest friends. He didn't want to see his brother mourn her a second time when he was still mourning her.

* * *

Haku had his hands on his knees, his breathing loud and broken. He was surrounded by my kunai and I was going easy on him, given his cast for his arm. But he still surprised me, mainly because he was going harder on me than the boys. To this day, I was stronger than them anyway. In four years, maybe not, but today I was. But he still displayed a wonderful control of his Hyōton, great aim he knew how to strategically use and he was smart.

I grinned at him and turned my head to the side to look at Yagura-sama, who watched our fight.

"So?" I asked him and ran a hand in my dirty hair. Haku managed to make me fall at some point.

"Zabuza trained him well, you could make him even better," he recognized and threw me a scroll, "plus he clearly has been broken before, it's perfect for a weapon. He's officially a genin you'll take care of." He body flickered away and I took what was sealed in the scroll.

"Sorry for this one," I told him as I walked to him to attach the hitai-ate to his forehead, "you'll wear this one until we do _that_ , and that's all. I know how sometimes the symbolic is important."

"How...so?" he replied and straightened up, thanking me for the canteen of water I gave him.

"This one," I started and pointed at my forehead protector with black fabric, "is my second one. I stopped using the first one when I made it to chuunin, and Yagura-sama damaged it when I tried to run away for the fifth time anyway."

"Five...times?" he repeated, clearly dumbfounded.

"Yep. Anyway, we couldn't leave the village since we got here, I'll ask the Mizukage if I can take you to the swamp to get you used to the surrounding of Kiri. Then, I'll teach you how to detach your Wind chakra from your Water chakra perfectly. Using a kekkai genkai is easy once you unlock it, but with the elemental ones it's hard to use only one chakra nature because we use them simultaneously all the time."

"Understood," he replied with a soft smile, knowing he would finally see Zabuza-san since we got here. I felt a slight pang of guilt knowing he probably couldn't care less about Kiri and that he accepted only for his Master, but I pushed it aside. No negative emotions until the end.

I got the permission easily, Yagura not giving a damn on how I was training Haku. We did train though, or at least I explained to him the 'no-no' in the swamp, and he listened attentively, a kinda like Hinata. Haku took a senbon when we were close to the hideout and I rolled my eyes, knowing who was watching us.

"Suigetsu!"

"That's the new one?" he replied and poked his head out of the water. Haku gaped a little when he saw Suigetsu's body was mixed with the water of the pond. "Wait, that's a boy or a girl?"

"A boy," I answered and he was completely out of the water. He crossed his arms behind his head and walked to us. "What are you doing?"

"Patrolling. Mangetsu is training Chōjūrō with his sword and told me to fuck off," he muttered while going to the hideout. I looked around us and hurried Haku in it. I felt the barrier closing behind us and we were greeted by Kimou, I avoided her hug, and Utakata-senpai who recently deserted. He avoided my hug and punched me on the head.

"Buuuuttttt~!" I whined, eyes filled with crocodile tears. His amber eyes glared at me and my behavior. But I knew deep down he loved me, he was just too cool to say it.

"You're an eyesore!" Aouch, I fell on my knees and hugged his legs, whining words beyond understanding.

"Hey Utakata, a beautiful woman keeps claiming her love to you and you treat like that! How dare you!?" Kimou thundered at him. He shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm her favorite senpai because I'm her favorite to _annoy_. I know, she told me!" he retorted in an exasperated voice. He was moving his leg to shoo me off, but I was clingy.

"Is that normal?" I heard Haku asked Suigetsu, who was snickering at us.

"Pretty much yeah. You haven't seen her and my brother annoying Zabuza-senpai and Mei-san yet," he told him and they walked away.

I let go of senpai and followed them, still moping. The hideout was mainly a maze of hallways underground, with many rooms, no real kitchen but military rations, the sanitary minimum and a big room used to plan, where a big round table was, various maps of Kiri and all of its characteristics, of the island and the strategic places in the country in general, on it. It was also where the toad Jiraya sent was most likely to appear thanks to the artificial well in there.

"Yo brats," Zabuza-san greeted us, eyes studying an underground map of Kiri.

"Senpai, train me today!" Suigetsu whined in a bored tone.

"Ha, is that the Haku you told me about?" Mei-sensei spoke out, sending a warm smile to Haku when she raised her eyes from a paper. She was still trying to figure out a way to evacuate the civilians without Yagura noticing the empty streets. Basically, a lot of genjutsu. Sensei got up from her chair and walked up to us in all her deadly kunoichi jounin attire, each steps showing confidence and power.

I _admire_ my sensei. I shot a quick glance at Haku, who nodded without knowing what else to say. He was not used to people giving him attention for him.

"My name is Terumi Mei, I'm the head of the Resistance. Thank you for your help Haku, I hope that after our victory you'll find a home in Kirigakure," she told him as she put her hands on his shoulders. "Sorry for the brutal changes of environment, I know you're used to being with Zabuza. I hope Akane has been a good person to have around."

"Yes, thanks Mei-san. Uzu-san's presence has been pleasant so far, and she is of very good advice concerning my Ice Release," he answered with a polite smile, and I wondered where Zabuza-san found such an angel. He was nothing but pleasant to have around, and he was a great cook!

"I taught her everything."

"Really?"

"Sensei was born with two elemental kekkei genkai, the Lava Release and the Boil Release," I explained to him and stretched my arms above my head. "He made it to genin, I'm pretty sure Yagura's going to send him and I on missions until he finds him a team."

"I wanna go on missions too!" Suigetsu exclaimed suddenly with wide eyes. "I've been staying in the village for too long, I'm turning crazy! I wanna cut things!"

I raised a brow at sensei when she put a finger to her painted lips. She had something in mind. The smile that started to grow on her lips made me shiver after all.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :)**

 **Ederisu:** **Thanks for the review, and cliffhangers are everything :)**

 **Bye!**


	21. Chuunin Exams Arc: Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 12**

 **Shisui: 21**

 **Kakashi: 26**

* * *

I looked at the paper.

At Yagura.

The paper.

Mei-sensei.

Yagura yawned and lost interests in me, finding his paperwork more interesting.

I looked at Mei-sensei.

I showed her the paper.

"You approved of this?" I asked her quietly, my eyes glaring daggers at her sweet, _sweet_ , smile.

"You've become a powerful and respected kunoichi since you came back, and your progresses were even faster than when you were younger. It's only normal for you to, one day, teach the future generation of our village, don't you think?" she replied warmly, too warmly. It was almost the voice she used when on missions we were confronted to a guy she found cute but that she had to melt. If I said 'no', I would regret it later. Not as if Yagura would let me though.

"Why don't you put me in the Academy then?" I inquired at Yagura.

"You're too efficient on the field to be kept in the village." A compliment? Wow. "Mei and I trained you personally, you can pass your knowledge to genin on the field directly. Those three will be your charges starting tomorrow, Uzumaki-sensei. Now out."

I walked quietly next to sensei outside, and glared at her once we were out. The usual mist and cloudy sky, rain would soon follow, making the atmosphere even more electric.

"You stabbed me in the back! And I didn't even know the third one was still a genin!" I yelled at her and she barely moved, humming quietly in pride instead . "Sensei!"

"Akane-sensei," she purred with a dangerous smile, "look on the bright side: it's the start of your army!" Was it how Kakashi took it when he passed Team Seven? His future army? "Now you should tell them to meet you tomorrow at Training Lake 2 by eight o'clock sharp. If you'll excuse me."

She left, my hair moving with the air she created. I was sure if she was so happy of my distress, it was because I accidentally made a comment on her love life. I apologized though, so she should have forgiven me! She always told me we had to help one another between kunoichi! It wasn't fair!

The next morning, I found myself on the lake, facing a sleepy Suigetsu, a curious Haku and an intimidated Chōjūrō, under the laughing eyes of my first team.

Fuck my life.

* * *

I sighed in front of the circus show in front of me. Talk about an escort mission. We had to escort someone from the smallest island in the country to the fishing harbor next to Kiri, and now we were on the boat. Suigetsu, being the brat he was, forced Chōjūrō into a sword fight. Haku sat in front of me and asked me to continue his training.

"Remember, just before you use an Ice jutsu, you feel your chakra building up inside of you. You need to stop yourself there and focus to find the two elements," I reminded him, placing a pack of chakra paper in front of him.

"How did you get the control to do that sensei?" he asked me with big brown eyes filled with interest, knowing he could only make the paper wet but not cut it. With time, I think he realized he could bond with other people too, and that he wasn't just a weapon. I was doing my best to make him realize this, and I was pretty sure Mei-sensei had a word with Zabuza-san about that.

"Fuinjutsu. I've been learning it all my life and seals require a lot of chakra control if you want them to work perfectly."

"You must have had a great teacher for being so good at eighteen." Minato oji-chan's face flashed in my mind. He pretty much set the basis of my fuinjutsu whereas mom and Aunty Kushina helped me reading and writing it.

"Yeah, he was something." Haku offered me a comforting smile at my use of the past tense. But we both ducked our heads when bullets of water passed where we were, headshoting the thugs who wanted to get on board. "You _really_ needed to get out of Kiri, I agree."

"See!" Suigetsu emphasized, his straw in his mouth. "I was going crazy!"

"Hopefully, we'll have more missions outside now," Chōjūrō added with a shy smile, just to tense when Suigetsu glanced his way. For now, he was far from the Rokudaime. We had been a team for a month now, and I smiled to myself when I heard Haku chuckling.

Yeah...Zabuza-san asked me that too. In the case he didn't make it to see the new Kiri, to make sure Haku will keep on living. Something about my kinsman, because that's who he was no matter how much he tried to deny it when that subject was addressed, being kinda suicidal.

Come on, as if he would try to take a Chidori for Zabuza-san!

* * *

"Hey...Sasuke..." Naruto said slowly, eyeing his best friend who barely sparred him a glance, leaned against the barrier of the bridge, "don't you want to know what Itachi-nii does with his girlfriend? He didn't even show up at your mom's dinner yesterday!"

"Itachi-san has a girlfriend?" Sakura repeated and she saw Sasuke winced a little with a scowl on his face.

"I couldn't care less about _her_ ," Sasuke replied, hoping his sensei would finally show up. "She's barely his girlfriend, she's so annoying and clingy."

"You were too before you started your 'I'm-too-cool-for-you' phase," a new voice snickered behind them, and the young Uchiha flushed before glaring at his older cousin, crouched on the barrier. "You don't scare me you know."

"Shisui-nii!" the Uzumaki exclaimed with a grin. He highfived Shisui who had raised his hand. "You're a surprise teacher for today?"

"No, I was going home. Kakashi-senpai's not here yet?"

"He's always late! Hey, do you wanna go on a tailing mission!?"

"Naruto!" Sakura tried to scold him, but stopped at the Uchiha's mischievous grin.

"Itachi and Izumi right? Count me in Naruto, and anyway you guys will be here waiting for a long while."

As Shisui managed to get Team Seven to follow him, he gazed at his younger cousin with a knowing smile.

"I know that if Naruto had talked about a 'sabotage' mission you would have accepted Sasuke, so what's the matter with Izumi?"

"She's not right for him. She's too...plain, she doesn't stand up to him," Sasuke muttered under his breath, his mouth hidden behind his collar. Sakura and Naruto were already plotting, one with a dreamy look on her face and the other one wanting to prank the couple.

"Maybe you should give her a chance you know Sas-"

"No, she'll never be right."

"Who then?

"Nee-san."

Shisui stared right in front of him, a grim look on his face. Yes, Akane and Itachi, they looked good together. They would...they probably would have ended up together at some point. And he would have gotten Akane's sorry smile on the day of their wedding, with Itachi knowing look on him to know if he was okay.

"Do...do you think she's dead?" Sasuke continued in a lower voice, raising his eyes to look at him.

"I...I don't know Sasuke," he replied honestly with a blank face. "I hope not."

When they found Itachi and Izumi, the Uchiha heir felt them right away. Shisui took it as a cue to leave the three genin dealing with their doom.

* * *

"Suiton: Wild Water Wave!" A blast of water came out of my mouth, the dose of chakra in it making it break the rock in front of us. Haku finally managed to get to his Water Release pretty well. Not the Wind yet, but it was faster than expected. "Ideally, I'd like you to know one water based jutsu and one wind based. I'm not teaching you anything by saying having a kekkai genkai is a great advantage but should be used really if your opponent is strong. It's your surprise card."

"How many things can you do as a kunoichi?" he asked me slowly with a frown on his face.

"Well, I've learned fuinjutsu all my life, when Hoshigaki-san brought me here against my will I unlocked my Ice release. I learned how to use fuinjutsu in an offensive way, Mei-sensei taught me how to control my kekkai genkai and Yagura-sama taught me Suiton and Fuuton. Because it's Kirigakure, and Mangetsu being who he is, I knew how to wield a sword when I was a jounin. I'm still better with water and fuinjutsu."

"You're very powerful," he complimented me and I shrugged.

"I wanted to survive."

I went up to my other students, and I explained Chōjūrō how to expand his chakra in water to succeed his Great Waterfall Technique. Suigetsu was working on a move Zabuza-san told him about, apparently he was thinking Suigetsu would be good with his precious butcher knife. Our beautiful morning was cut short though as a shinobi appeared in front of us, one of those sensei knew we would fight later on.

It was strange, to see people everyday and still knowing soon we will fight them.

I wonder if old Itachi felt that way too, walking in his own home everyday when he was thirteen.

"Mizukage-sama requires your presence Uzumaki," the shinobi told me bluntly and poofed away.

"If I die today, Suigetsu know your brother is my favorite. Even if you're basically five-year apart twins. Keep training!" I body flickered away and found myself in front of the Kage building. Hands in my pockets, I was basically walking in here as if I owned the place by. And instead of putting my head down under people's glares, I was...like Dai would say, I didn't give a shitty fuck about it anymore. I was too used to it.

I knocked and entered when I was allowed to.

"You've asked for me Yagura-sama?"

"Yes. You've had your team for two months now. How is it going?" he asked me and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Good. They all had prior experiences and they form a good team. Mine was a little bit similar so I know some tactics that work with their techniques," I explained straight as a ramrod. "They're way above genin level."

"Good, because you're taking them to the Chuunin Exam." I gawked like an idiot and he rolled his eyes. "You look stupid, stop it and be professional. Don't make me beat you up again." I winced at the many painful memories. I loved being a pain in the ass but I was docile now.

"I wasn't aware you were planning an Exam."

"I'm not, your team will be the only team representing the village in Konoha." Crap, when I thought I would go to the Chuunin Exam I wasn't serious. It...it was a joke! I can live without Orochimaru! "The first part will be held in July. Don't hide your identity, I want Konoha to fully understand that if they wanted to get their hands on you they should have done it before. Your team will be in the third part of the exam. I'll make you come back before you leave for more information."

"Fine, Yagura-sama." I nodded thoughtfully, took the papers on his desk and started to leave.

"Uzumaki." I halted my hand inches away from the door knob. "You're from the Bloody Mist above everything else. If I hear otherwise I'll make you regret it." I gulped at the threat lacing his voice.

"Very well, Mizukage-sama."

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding once I was outside, the coolness of the air hitting my throat. Fuck, was I even ready? I mean, it has been two years. Two years in which I kept myself from thinking about them as much as I could. It wasn't difficult knowing my insane schedule but...I don't know. I knew Naruto and Sasuke would be there, like Kakashi but...I was half expecting the Uchiha compound to be empty and Naruto to still live on his own.

I...I don't know, it's weird. Almost as if the changes were just dreams.

I bit my lip. In Konoha, they knew Sasaki Akane. However, in Kiri, it was _Uzumaki_ Akane they knew. I was Uzu here, feared apprentice of the Fourth and spy of the rebellion led by the future Fifth. I was despised but at the rebellion people started to see me for who I was and not for who trained me. Shit, I...I used to hate Kiri but since I got back, I had a purpose, dared I say a dream for this place. I had friends too, who _knew_ me. Sure, in Konoha I had my family, Itachi and Shisui, but...but I wasn't sure how they would react if they knew half of the things I've done in my life. Heck, half of the things I've done these past two years.

Kakashi...I strangely felt as if he would understand.

All of this to say, I...kinda liked being in Kirigakure. I felt actively useful y'know? I could share the headache of the rebellion with many people unlike the clans' headaches in Konoha.

I missed teaching the midgets though. I missed the sun too. I could only see it and feel it on some islands or on missions. Even though, because of my kekkei genkai, my body can handle cool temperatures and humid weather pretty well. The desert of the Land of Wind no, but the dampness of the Land of Water? Heck yeah!

Now I had to tell the news to the kids.

Well kids, Suigetsu was Naruto's age, but Haku and Chōjūrō were only two or three years younger than me.

I facepalmed with an amused grin dancing on my lips. Konoha doesn't know what's going to hit it.

* * *

"WHAAATTTT!?" I plugged my ears and almost fell on Utakata-senpai, who was doing the same thing. I was pretty sure all the hideout heard Kimou's scream. The door to the 'kitchen' flung open and Kiri, an iryo-nin around my age, appeared, ready to strike.

"I think I'm deaf," Senpai muttered next to me and I nodded along. Kimou grabbed me by the shoulders and looked at me with watery eyes. Behind her, I saw Dai arriving and telling Kiri it was just Kimou being herself.

"The Chuunin Exams in Konoha? But...but we need you here Uzu! What if one of those _Uchiha_ keeps you there huh!? What if they stole your heart huh!?" By now she was shaking me.

"The Mizukage's orders Kimou, you've got to accept that and don't make us deaf!" Senpai snarled at her, his eyes glaring daggers at the illusionist. She glared back and I took that opportunity to leave the room. Sensei told me she sent a message to Jiraya saying I would be in Konoha soon, so I would probably end up meeting with the Hokage at some point during my stay.

Mom will scream when she sees me. If I could see her. Chief Dward asked me to be the kunoichi he turned me into in Konoha, so I would probably have to...be cold to them if I see them.

 _When_ I see them. We're the only team from Kiri, and with the past tensions between us and Konoha, we would be under big surveillance. There was no way I would not see people I know. Damn Yagura, you sadistic bastard. He _really_ wanted to rub me in their faces.

He hated it when people touched what was his. I wondered what Tobito could gain from this though.

"What's up people?" Ao-san glared at me when I entered the 'reunion' room and I involuntary shuddered at the memory of him and many anbu trying to break the confidentiality seal on my wrist when I was sixteen. Too bad even his Byakugan couldn't get through the seal.

"We're thinking about asking the Waves to shelter the civilians we will evacuate," Sensei explained to me in serious voice.

"We did help getting ride off the asshole in the country," Mangetsu continued, making some room for me to sit, "and Zabuza-senpai let them have the money. They're reconstructing, if he goes there to talk to that bridge builder it could work."

"When are you planning on leaving Mei?" Zabuza-san asked her with a grim look in his eyes. "If you come with me, it would be simpler to explain it to them. They won't accept if they become a target."

"I was thinking starting the attacks around the village after the Exams. I would need to be sure to have Konoha's help," Zabuza-san and others snorted at that and she shut them up with a death glare, "so that I know how many forces I could focus here. If Konoha was willing to help us protect the civilians it would mean more of _our_ shinobi to get _our_ village back from whoever is controlling Yagura-sama right now." Yeah, Ao confirmed it with his Byakugan. "I don't think he will go down without a fight, and he also has shinobi who like the system in place for the moment who won't surrender. _I'm not taking any risks against an unknown number of enemies_." Nobody spoke up, dared to say anything. That was the Godaime Mizukage here, the most powerful kunoichi in the village and the one who took it upon herself to start the fire Zabuza-san had tried to light. I shared a knowing smirk with Mangetsu. We knew sensei would not take 'no' for an answer.

Kami, shit was about to get real. But it was damn time.

It was damn time for the Bloody Mist to die.

* * *

"Do you truly believe we can make it to the final part?" Chōjūrō asked me shyly, his lack of self-confidence showing through.

"I believe it and I know you will get to the final stage of the Chuunin Exams. We are the sole team representing Kiri, the Mizukage asked of us to be worthy of our reputation," I replied coolly, my hands crossed over my chest. "You all have experiences. None of you is weak, your fighting skills are those of a chuunin, I have no doubts about it. I trust you to work as a team and to be able to use each of your qualities, physical and mental, at their best. You compliment each other, don't forget that. We will evaluate more than just fighting. Now, I'm not saying to go on a murder/slicing spree," I added, smirking at Suigetsu whose face fell immediately, "but show them you're way above their levels. Especially in Konoha, expect to be confronted to dōjutsu users. They will be tricky to beat, be careful."

"I have had an encounter with the sharingan before coming here," Haku told his teammate more than me, "he could see me in my technique." That got Suigetsu's attention. "I'm sure his team will be in the exam from their level."

"It's exciting then," Suigetsu said with a carnivorous grin on his lips showing his sharpened teeth. "If some Konoha softies managed to beat you then maybe they're worth something."

I caught a glimpse of wonder in Haku's eyes before it was replaced with the usual hidden annoyance he felt when Suigetsu was bragging. Haku displayed his intelligence and skills pretty well in training and missions. Even Zabuza-san complimented him on his progresses and he bowed an incredible numbers of times. However, he was also kinda the team leader. Suigetsu's restlessness but also cowardice in front of stronger than him clearly annoyed him. Chōjūrō was skilled and with great potential, but his lack of self-confidence could cause harm.

There was a good development between the three though.

"Now we will train for the rest of the afternoon. Suigetsu, I will go with Nuibari against you. Chōjūrō, I want you to use Hiramekarei with just enough chakra to cut through Haku's Wild Water Wave technique. Haku, you gotta keep him from doing that." They all nodded and I found myself gripping Nuibari's string to swirl the sword in front of Suigetsu, whereas Haku and Chōjūrō were further away. "Ready Blobby Blob?"

"How come you've never call Mangetsu like that!?" he yelled at me, charging me with his sword. I grabbed Nuibari at its handle and blocked the blow, taking a step back at Suigetsu's strength. We smirked at each other.

"Your brother was stronger than me when I met him and I never had to look for him in the sea." He flushed in shame and we exchanged another blow. "With Nuibari, I can see how good you are at liquefying yourself."

"That is _if_ you can touch me."

"You think you and Chōjūrō are the only one your brother taught?" I took kunai and threw it away to teleport to it.

"Hey I thought you didn't use that in training!" I smirked at him and infused chakra in my sword. I couldn't use it like Kushimaru but I could tie him up. And I did. Nuibari flew around him and my chakra called it back. Suigetsu tried to move and I tightened my hold on him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. A few seconds passed until he started to liquefy himself, which from afar could look as if he was melting. He exploded in water and reformed himself a few meters away from my thread, breathing heavily.

"You did it faster this time, but you're exhausted afterward," I grumbled more for me than him. With Gaara, who knew if my seal was still on knowing I saw a Suna-nin in Oto, Suigetsu's ability could be his winning card. Even if because of its composition, his body, like his brother's, were more affected by poison than the rest of us, they both could deal with physical damages.

* * *

"Okay, why the long faces guys?" I put the secret orders from Yagura in my back pouch as we stood at the gate of Kiri. We would go to the port and directly reach the Land of Fire.

"Konoha Uzu, Konoha," Dai replied in an angry voice. I rolled my eyes and searched Mangetsu's for help but he averted his eyes from me.

"Don't count on me, I'm not their biggest fan either." Yeah, you bet it was because Shisui's saved his life and hurt his pride. The very same guy who was responsible for the grave bearing my name in the cemetery.

"I'll come back you know."

"It's not whether or not you come back, it's how you'll be in there that worries us," Dai told me and knocked his knuckles on my head. "I seriously hope the Mizukage will send us for the third stage of the exam. I don't want you to get on an Uchiha dick without protection." Mangetsu sighed and I facepalmed. Dai and his need to say sexual things. He kept justifying by saying 'I'm a doctor!' but it just irritated his sister even more.

"Give it some time and you'd give that Jiraya a run for his money." I heard Mangetsu mutter under his breath, purple eyes saying _'I'm done with this shit'_. I chuckled a little bit until I heard Suigetsu's voice coming our way, Haku and Chōjūrō close behind. Haku had changed his sandals for a shinobi pair, much more like Zabuza-san's. As for Suigetsu, he wore basically the same outfit as his brother only with a dark purple top, almost like in the picture of old Suigetsu in Taka. Chōjūrō also wore a similar outfit that in the picture of old sensei becoming the Mizukage, but his hitai-ate was on his forehead and his pants were not cowed-printed but stripped and gray. "Suigetsu, don't whine on the way!"

"I don't 'whine' Mang!" came the angry reply. His brother snorted and shot him pointed look.

"And be sure she doesn't lose her head!" Dai added to the three of them. I fought the urge to pinch the bridge of my nose. Was it how Utakata-senpai felt when I was around? Nah, he loved me too much!

"Okay people, let's get our asses to the Hidden Leaf!" I yelled and raised my fist in the air. Suigetsu followed me. Chōjūrō too with a little delay. But Haku just smiled politely and stared at me. Oh gosh, I was rubbing off on him. He thought he was too cool for it now.

Well, time to head to the Chuunin Exams!

Oh...

Oh right.

Shisui did confess to me right before I left, didn't he. Maybe it was just the situation.

Yeah, that was definitely the situation. Shisui...Shisui is _not_ in love with me.

Oh boy.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :)**

 **Ederisu:** **:)**

 **nevvy:** **Thanks :) yeah the Arc was short but well, she wasn't going to do a lot more than her mission anyway :) and I'm glad you like her interactions with the Mist shinobi, she is a kunoichi from the Mist after all**

 **Yuelliya21iy:** **Thanks :) and you should like the next two chapters then :)**

 **Bye!**


	22. Chuunin Exams Arc: Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 12**

 **Shisui: 21**

 **Kakashi: 26**

* * *

I rolled my eyes. Haku sighed. Chōjūrō looked uncertain. Suigetsu was drinking, sat on the ground. For the fourth time in two hours. We reached the Land of Fire two hours ago. I took advantage of one of his whining break to change my top to accommodate better to the weather. Instead of my long-sleeved shirt, I had a slinky black shirt, the sleeves stopping a little above the elbows and navy blue finger less gloves.

"Come on Suigetsu, move," I groaned with a glare. "We're not that far away anymore."

"I need breaks," he stated with a deadpan look on his face. My eyebrow twitched.

"Why don't you drink and walk at the same time?"

"Haku, you should know that it will be useless that way!"

Please, whatever Lord there is above, my buddy Shinigami, give me the patience to deal with that brat.

" **Are you that eager to get back to Konoha?** "

" _Still here? What were you up to?_ "

" **I was trying to think on that back-up seal for jinchuriki.** " Right, it was sort of a back-up seal that would activate in case the Tailed Beast is extracted, to keep the host alive. " **I wish I could test things. Anyway, aren't you stressed?** "

" _About what? Your kid? Mom? The over-protectiveness of the Uchiha clan_ _I might face? The super secret mission Yagura gave me? The one sensei gave me? Orochimaru attacking?_ "

" **Among other things,** " he chuckled nervously in my mind. Let's just say at some point on the road, my two _regular_ students had to hold me back from hitting Suigetsu in the face.

As we neared Konoha, we fell in steps with teams from Kusa. No sound was heard from any sides. From the corner of my eyes, I spotted red hair. I shot it a glance and arched a brow when I recognized old Sasuke's Uzumaki teammate, Karin. I had never met her before either, but I saw a picture at old Sakura's place. So she was at the Chuunin Exams huh? Well, that was interesting. Chuunin Exams...Orochimaru attacks Konoha with Suna, Sandaime dies. He...he attacks at the end of the exam, but old Sasuke told me they first met him before.

Has old Sasuke ever told me what happened anyway? I don't think so. I don't think I ever asked what happened either, because it was in the past. Too bad for me, now I was the one in the past. But Orochimaru would do something and later Sasuke joined him. I just wish I knew what it was.

"Are you alright Uzu-sensei?" Chōjūrō asked me in a whisper as the rock faces of the four Hokages could be seen in the distance. Oji-chan, and all of them actually, looked cold. I rubbed my eyes for a second when seven faces appeared instead of four in my head. My body was eighteen but my mind...forty-one, wasn't it? I was forty-one, I was a few years younger than mom or Tsunade or Jiraya. "Uzu-sensei?"

"Yeah, don't worry Chōjūrō," I replied. Now the gates were in front of us. My breath was caught in my throat at the sight. Most of the teams, us included, must have arrived at the same time from the three lines next to each other. Many shinobi were patrolling and controlling us, the police forces from the symbol on their sleeves. Yeah, the Hokage was already taking precautions. Good, that was good. I turned to my students with a serious face. "From now on, we represent Kiri in the Land of Fire, in Konoha. So _behave_. If you're caught in a fight outside of the Exams with another village, especially a genin from Konoha, the entire team will be disqualified. I don't need to tell you what would happen with the Mizukage if you were not remembered as he wants you to be. So _no. Slicing,_ " I emphasized, looking at Suigetsu who gulped under the coldness in my eyes. "You filled your registration paper, so you show it to prove you are who you are and here for the Exams and nothing else. I have all of our passports. Once we're inside, we go to our hotel and we'll talk about what you'll have to do in three days. Got it?"

They nodded and Suigetsu took a step closer to me, clearly on edge. I raised an eyebrow and tensed. I tensed because there was a team with Oto forehead protectors on their head. They were all giving creepy vibes, and I couldn't help but shiver when my eyes met those of the team leader. Gray with split irises. He had devilish eyes, a very fair skin and long jet black hair styled in high ponytail. He smirked at me and I bit the inside of my cheek when his team walked passed us, the genin sending _my_ genin smug smirks. I breathed out silently when they joined a line and shot a look at my team. Suigetsu was livid, Chōjūrō looked scared and Haku had wide eyes and a short breath.

That was Orochimaru. I had no doubts about it, old Sasuke once took me to one of his hideout to look up a seal. He saw the symbol of Kiri on our hitai-ate and let enough killing intent to show us who was the boss I guess. But Suigetsu, Suigetsu sensed him very well. I ruffled his white hair and he raised scared purple eyes on me. I winked at him.

"I'm here, remember?" I whispered to him and he nodded hesitantly. I nodded back and we joined the line on the far right, the farthest from Oto. "Team..." I kept myself from groaning at the ridiculous name Yagura gave us because we were specialized in infiltration, "Team Unagi."

"That sucks so bad." I agreed mentally. I spotted Gaara's team at the front being controlled and then entering the village. Hum...I wanted to be sure if my seal was still there but...I wasn't sure I would be able to do so.

"What's Team Unagi?" Haku asked and I sighed. Seriously, Dai and his drunk ideas that Yagura actually accepts...

"It's the name of Terumi-san's team since they became chuunin," Chōjūrō explained.

"Suigetsu is the unofficial member."

"Oh."

We waited patiently until our turn, gauging the other teams in the meantime. Gaara's team had made it to the finals and there were a lot from Konoha, that was all I remembered. I needed to take a look at my diary. But even in my old life I didn't know everything or remembered everything I had been told when I got here.

Then we ended in front of a member of the police force. I had barely gotten our passports from my back pouch that a firm hand was on the officer's shoulder. My eyes followed the hand, attached to n arm, to a shoulder and...

"Captain!"

"I'm taking care of this team, Hokage's orders," Fugaku-san stated coldly in all of his Uchiha glory, Kakashi standing behind him. I almost gulped at Kakashi eye-smile because he _shouldn't_ be smiling. Not at Kiri, certainly not at me after the little act I pulled in Wave. Okay, my genin would go to the hotel, I would not go with them right away. "Passports and registrations." I motioned my team to show them as I gave our passports. Fugaku-san inspected everything and gave the papers back, writing something in our passports and gave us passes to walk around town. I read my name, _Uzumaki_ Akane, and we entered the village officially. It felt weird, so, so weird to be back. "I will personally escort the genin to their hotel. Meanwhile, the Hokage wishes to speak with you, Uzumaki-san."

I nodded and followed Kakashi in silence, glancing one last time at my genin to make them understand it was okay. Now, if only Suigetsu stopped glaring daggers at Fugaku-san behind his back it would be great.

I looked around me, the crowded sunny streets so different from the quiet and misty streets of Kiri, and yet so familiar. However, after two years away, I couldn't help but feel jealous of this village but also viciously content. Yes, this village didn't have troubles, had a police and was basically welcoming, but I knew perfectly well it was only an outside. The corruption left by Danzo was still underneath that layer of happiness and hypocrisy. At least in Kiri, everybody knew what to expect and it made you tough. Yes, there was no innocence unlike here, but we wouldn't drown in the reality of the world when we weren't shielded anymore. Yagura, Obito, made sure of that by training me so roughly, and even getting me to do political missions theses past two years.

I found myself staring at the tired face of the Hokage, Kakashi by my side. My cold facade was on and I honestly didn't know if I could let it go. No, no matter what, for Yagura or sensei, I had to be the image of professionalism.

"Hokage-sama," I greeted him and bowed.

"Uzumaki-kun," he replied with superiority in his voice, "given the past history between our villages, I hope you did not get offended by the welcome you and your team had."

"Not at all, it is perfectly understandable. I hope you will find my team's skill entertaining, Hokage-sama." He nodded and formed the tiger seal. The walls, floor and ceiling glowed blue for a short moment.

"Now that we are shielded from any eavesdropper, I would like to have a word with you concerning these past two years." I shot a look at Kakashi, who had his hands in his pockets as if nothing happened. "After his mission, Kakashi confronted me about the night you went back to Kiri, and I told him about what you have been up to with Terumi Mei."

"I see," I answered blandly. That was...good?

"With the current events, my hands are tied." You bet Orochimaru was a big deal. "However I would like to know how you are planning the rest." I took a scroll from my back pouch and placed on his desk.

"Mei-sensei advised me to take this scroll and give it to you if I had the occasion. She figured I would have a meeting given the situation."

"Hokage-sama, may I ask her a question?" The Hokage nodded and Kakashi turned a harsh gaze on me, making me feel like a kid who did something bad. "That night when you were stabbed in the neck, did you know what would happen after?"

"If your question is 'did you think you would be killed' then not really. Yagura's reactions are unstable, but when anbu from Kiri came in the village, I had a word with two of them. They were my teammates and told me I was needed in the rebellion. They wouldn't have told me that if they didn't know I would make it," I explained and bowed in front of the Sandaime. "Forgive me for keeping this piece of information for myself, but I know of the situation in Kiri and I know my sensei, I couldn't risk her plan to stay here and possibly provoke a war between two villages."

"I understand, Terumi-san told me about it in one of her messages." I straightened myself and nodded. "Kakashi, give us a moment." He left the room and I took a scroll. I opened it on the floor and unsealed my diary. "Down to business I see."

"I don't have a choice Hokage-sama, these past two years have been hectic and well, let's just say I had a taste of what is to come in front of the gates." I stopped on the Chuunin Exam section of my diary. On the top of the page, there was written ' _From Sasuke's point of view_ '. Okay...attacked by Orochimaru in the Forest of Death...Orochimaru infiltrated the exams by assuming a candidate's identity...got spy in Konoha...fight Sasuke against Gaara stopped by attack of Suna and Oto...Hokage against Orochimaru where the former lost...Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura facing Gaara turned into Shukaku. That was all. I was pretty sure Sasuke actually never told me what really happened in the Forest of Death.

"We have taken measure concerning the entirety of the exams. Anbu will be scattered around the Forest and your mother made sure the barriers around the village were much stronger. She also worked with Fugaku to create an alarm system. We have everything under control to avoid as much civilian casualties we can," the Hokage said and I opened my mouth to say something, but I closed it right away. He took a puff of his pipe without looking at me. "I have lived long enough as shinobi, but I failed in many aspects. Orochimaru is one of them. As his sensei, I am willing to take all of the risks to stop him. It is _my_ job."

He knew. He knew he was going to die. He had already accepted it. He didn't want _help_. This...this reminded me I couldn't save everyone with my knowledge. Some people...some people would still die, would still die trying. But Orochimaru couldn't be reasoned with. Even in my past life, I didn't know why he was at peace with Konoha even though he was under permanent surveillance.

The Hokage made a hand seal and called Kakashi in.

"Considering the situation, I would like you to explain to Kakashi's team the circumstances of your presence here. I will also have an anbu following you." Of course, it was normal.

I found myself on a familiar road next to Kakashi. He didn't bring the Wave up, that was weird. But from the tension in his shoulder and the absence of his book, I could tell he was still pissed. I rolled my eyes at his behavior. If he could just tell me he was angry at me it would be better!

We finally arrived in front of my hom...no, not home. It...it wasn't home anymore, and it couldn't be home for the moment. But it was like I remembered it. The curtains of my bedroom's window was hiding the inside. I followed Kakashi inside, who didn't even knock, to find an empty living-room.

"Kakashi-kun, is that you?" My heart missed a beat at my mom's voice. I mechanically took off my sandals as Kakashi replied in an indifferent voice.

Mom came out of the study room, her bright red hair now above her shoulders like me. She smiled at Kakashi and her face morphed into an astonished one. I looked down at my feet, my arms behind my back as I couldn't help fidgeting. She whispered my name as if to make sure I was real and Kakashi briefly explained to her it was really me.

I blinked rapidly when I was engulfed in a warm and motherly hug. I stood here, motionless, for seconds until I hesitantly hugged her back.

"Yagura wants me to..."

"I know," she cut me off sharply and took a step back to look at me up and down. I averted my eyes from her when I took note of her wet eyes. She caressed my cheek gently, like she used to do when I was a child and I had a nightmare. "I guess you're here with that forehead protector to break the news to Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto is not here for the moment, training." I nodded and looked around, quiking my brows at the picture of my older brother on the wall. Last time I checked, Naruto didn't know about him. "Ha, I told Naruto not long after you left. Please take a sit."

I sat awkwardly in mom's living-room. I felt like a foreigner and I hated it. I wanted to go to my hotel so badly and talk to my team. God, the concept of 'family' was as awkward as when I arrived in Konoha in my past life. I didn't know how I could fit in, yet old Sasuke helped me because he felt the same way. Truth be told, he was my first family with the twins since mom's death, before even Naruto.

"By the way," Kakashi spoke out after an hour of uncomfortable silence, "don't you _ever_ get in the way of my Chidori ever again Akane." Mom turned a shocked look to Kakashi, who was glaring harshly to me. I took a deep breath and returned his glare.

"We're from enemy villages, don't order me around when you have no authority on me." His grip on his cup of now cold tea twitched and his glare got even darker. I found myself having a hard time slipping into Bloody Mist mode, because deep down I didn't want them to see that part of me.

The door opened later with two voices farther away. Sasuke must have been ahead of his teammates, because now he was at the door, eyes wide open on me. A spark of recognition passed in his eyes when he spotted my forehead protector. I stood up and turned to him as he quickly took his shoes off, not bothering to put them together.

"I knew it!" he said and hurried to me, wrapping his arms around my waist. The top of his head reached my chin now.

"Of course you'd see through it right away," I sighed and hugged him back with a little bit less hesitation. I could feel him breath heavily against me, and one of my hands ran through his hair when I took note of his shaking body. Nobody said anything until a sob was heard. My brown eyes found the blue ones of my baby cousin, who was already wiping the snot from his nose. Sasuke let go of me and moved aside. "Naru..."

"NEE-CHAN!" he yelled and ran to me to hurl himself at me. I almost lost my balance. I gazed softly at the crying kid clutching to me as if his life depended on it and hugged him tight, muffling his 'nee-chan' in my flak jacket. Then I shot a quick look at Sakura, who had short hair now and clearly felt as if she was intruding. She noticed my gaze and looked away, scooting closer to her sensei. After minutes where Naruto was sobbing against me, he moved his head back and wiped his tears away. Then, he raised his face to me with a toothy grin while still hugging me and I could feel my heart squeezing at the sight. "You finally came back nee-chan! You took your time, Sasuke even told me you were dead! But I knew you weren't 'ttebayo!"

"Naruto..."

"Hey, I'll show my progresses! I almost can do that Fuuton technique you showed me!" I pushed him away and knelt in front of him. I placed my hand in his mane of blond hair and he beamed at the action.

"Naruto, I'm here for the Chuunin Exams only." He lost his good mood and looked at me confused. "Look at my forehead Naruto, I'm a kunoichi from the Hidden Mist. My village is still in a tense relationship with Konoha and as the jounin of the only genin team from Kiri, I am the face of the Mist. I can't spend time with people from here and display any affection. You and Sasuke are still genin, so you probably don't know yet the politic side of the shinobi world, but it is as it is. The Hokage asked me to tell you guys to avoid any weird situations." As I was speaking, his eyes became grim and his lips turned into a thin line.

"But you should be a kunoichi here," he whispered, searching for an affirmation in my eyes. When he found none, he took a step back. "Why do you like that place more than here!? Aunty and I are here! Kakashi-sensei said that Kiri is an awful place, so why do you like it more!?" he spat at me angrily. I looked down and he pushed me down before running to his room, screaming he 'hated me'. I sighed and got up.

"Take care of him," I whispered and made my way to the exit. I left without anyone saying anything, a bitter taste in my mouth. Kiri needed me, the rebellion needed me and Konoha didn't. It wasn't just about me, I had a job to do and Naruto...it didn't matter if he hated me, resented me now, one day he would see I did all that for reason. An amused smirk appeared on my face.

Itachi, was that how you felt too? Is that how you felt when you were doing what was right for you and yet not knowing where you truly belonged?

Speaking of Itachi, I could feel a presence watching. I didn't feel it right away when I left the house though. Or I was too much in my thoughts, or my stalker/anbu thought he would make himself known. I stopped in my steps and waved coyly toward a tree in a house's backyard, a wry smile dancing on my lips. I didn't waste time in the streets, taking back alleys when I could. My forehead protector was like a target, I swear.

"You're finally here!" Suigetsu exclaimed when I entered our bedroom, Haku and Chōjūrō quietly taking care of their weapons. But Suigetsu wasn't wrong though, because it was dark outside. I spotted an untouched bowl of yakisoba, probably cold by now. "Where the fuck were you?"

"Don't shout Suigetsu, we're not the only ones in the inn," I muttered and sat next to my meal with a sigh. My two regular students raised their eyes on me for a second and returned to their work as I started eating. But Suigetsu went in front of me, his arms folded across his chest.

"Mangetsu and Dai asked me to keep an eye on you because of your family here. You saw them and that's why you're sulking? Come on, don't be a Konoha-softy Uzu!"

"Your words go right through my heart you know," I mumbled, moving my noodles around.

"I knew I'd heard your last name before," Haku piped up without looking away from his senbon. "You're related to Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Now he hates me. I just hope he will be okay in the Exams."

"Wow, we'll see him?" Suigetsu asked, now obviously interested. "He's strong like you?"

"We have different fighting style, at least if I remember well," I answered, making a face when nausea hit me when I took a bite of noodles. My appetite was ruined. "Haku can tell you more. You'll know who it is when you see him, he doesn't go unnoticed. Tomorrow morning we'll go over Chief Dwarf's expectations, and in the afternoon we'll take a walk around the village. I don't want you to be eliminated by some animal because you don't know your surroundings."

* * *

She petted the crow on its head and closed the window and the curtains, barely glancing at his hiding spot. She wanted to prepare her team and it was normal. Raising a hand over the eyes of his mask, the sight of her immobile and bleeding body in the grass appeared in his mind. He thought she was dead, that he was guilty for not even trying to help her and his eyes became more powerful because of that. But she was not dead, she was alive and wearing a Kiri hitai-ate, symbol of where her and her skills belonged. He knew she was a kunoichi, but he never bothered to find out about her rank, even though the training session he witnessed between her and Hatake Kakashi were giving her away.

She was alive though. He could try to get rid of the bitter taste in his mouth he always had when he thought about their last words together. There was one thing bothering him though; and it was why she was alive. It was well known the Mizukage was not forgiving towards deserters. Yet there she was with a position proving she was a powerful member of her village. It was obvious why she was the one here, the Mizukage was making a statement.

Itachi furrowed his brows, somehow happy Shisui was not in the village at the moment. Akane told him before the Uzumaki clan's survivors were an interesting power to have at a village's disposal, Danzo being the perfect example of someone wanting said power. It was probably the reason. Akane was a powerful weapon for Kiri, and knowing its reputation, she must have stopped fighting against it when they were ready to wage war against Konoha because of her. Deep down, Itachi could not help but worry for her, even if they were no longer on the same side.

Her hair was shorter and not as well taken care of as it was when she was simply teaching, indicating she no longer had time for herself. It was normal for a kunoichi to have short hair, it was practical, just like Sakura realized after the mission in the Land of Wave from what Sasuke told him, but the beautiful auburn color of her locks was completely dull. He also noticed the way she was shambling, unlike how she used to walk briskly with energy before she left. The bags under her eyes were also prominent, clearly showing exhaustion and how she was overwhelmed.

Itachi's eyes softened at the thought of his dear friend. Her 'death' had been a hard blow on him, on anyone she was close to really. When the Hokage gave him this mission to watch the Kiri team and its leader _Uzumaki_ Akane, a profound sadness engulfed him. The regrets of not doing anything for her had been eating him slowly since that night, and hearing her mentioned under another last name made it worse. If in Konoha and Kiri she had different last names, it must meant somehow, she did not want to be a part of Kiri or was forced to be a part of it.

She did mention how the shinobi life would not be for her many times to him, when they would enjoy a snack while waiting for their siblings.

Itachi gazed at the curtains of the room, now dark. He missed her. He missed her _terribly_. He missed having someone seeing him for him, qualities and flaws. He missed having someone giving him a piece of their mind without being intimidated. He missed the outsider only seeing Itachi, and not the Uchiha symbol on his back. He missed Sasaki Akane and seeing his brother trying to learn Fuinjutsu on his own had been a painful reminder of what was missing for the past two years.

Yet, when he had seen the Kiri symbol carved in the metal of her forehead protector, he could not help but wonder if she was still somewhere in this version of Akane he had never seen before, waiting for something to come out again.

All he wanted was hugging her. Shisui and her hugged many times in front of him, Shisui's feelings for her more obvious with time, but he never did. Right now, after seeing her so exhausted, he wanted to have her in his arms and feel the warmth of her body against his, just to be sure he was not dreaming. Yet, even if they talked, he did not know if she would let him have this. He did not know if she still considered him her friend after their last talk.

A feeling of dread pooled in his stomach at the idea of Akane hating him and treating him like she had when she arrived in Konoha.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :)**

 **kankananime123: Thanks for the review, and Konoha doesn't see her as a traitor as she was just a civilian there.**

 **Tonegawa Rie:** **Thanks for the review, and don't worry there will be some AkanexShisui moments later in the story, I have everything planned until around Shippuden and there will be :)**

 **Bye!**


	23. Chuunin Exams Arc: Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 12**

 **Shisui: 21**

 **Kakashi: 26**

* * *

"You're all ready for the day?" I asked my team and Suigetsu yawned and nodded like the other two. "Great, let's start with that." I took Yagura's scroll and rolled it out, the Mizukage's small writing now under their eyes. They read it quickly and Suigetsu's eyes became a shade darker. I executed three hand seals and the papers on the walls glowed blue, showing there would not be eavesdroppers. "Two years ago, one of the Sannin, Orochimaru, kidnapped Suigetsu to do experiments on him. With Mangetsu and Dai, we infiltrated one of his hideout in the Land of the Sea. We left with Suigetsu but Yagura kept track of Orochimaru. We confirmed he created a shinobi village, Otogakure. As you've seen yesterday, a team from this village is going to participate in the Exams. Orochimaru's intentions are not genuine, he resents this village and will probably try to destroy it at some point during the Exams. Yagura orders us to watch how things go. As I've already mentioned, you will face other teams. If you face Oto, do not engage, get Intel. However if they engage you, don't hold back, we have a reputation after all. Be careful of the guy with red hair from Suna, there's something wrong with him. We think Orochimaru might have gotten Suna to help him. Also, it's a possibility the Snake might have spies in this village, and he could very well infiltrate one of the stage of the Exams. If that's the case and you ended up against him, you _run_ and ask for help. You're no match for him."

"So Otogakure is the enemy," Chōjūrō summed up.

"What if we run away and he follows us?" Haku asked me with furrowed brows. "Zabuza-san already talked about that man and he doesn't sound like he would give up easily."

"I will make you seals to signal your position to the proctors of the Exams, don't worry about that." I looked at all of them. "I trust you to act as a team and kick all of their sorry asses to the ground."

"You can count on it." Suigetsu told me with a toothy grin.

"However, be it Hyōton or the Hydrification Technique, don't use it to show off. Chōjūrō, Suigetsu, I believe you both have regular katanas with you, right?" They nodded. "Great, then the talking is done, you know what you have to do. I'll be watching."

"But for the Exams, the Mizukage expects us to do the same score than the last time he sent a team in a foreign Chuunin Exams?" Suigetsu asked me.

"The most important is the mission, qualify for the third stage first and we'll see from there. If it is like last time, it will be one against one fights. We'll see depending on your opponent."

"What happened at the last Exams?" the Yuki boy asked Suigetsu. He grinned at me and I rolled my eyes.

"It was in Kumo and there was only one team. The final was between two shinobi from Kiri and the third member of the team lost in semi-final against his teammate. We even beat an Uchiha."

I pulled a face. "That guy pushed me in my limits." Yagura had asked me to win the tournament and Mangetsu let me win because he knew what might happen to me otherwise. I love that guy.

We spent the rest of the morning talking about what they would possibly be asked to do, and they ended up creating different strategies for different situations. Haku actually changed his outfit, under Zabuza-san's suggestion, and now wore the same shoes than when we left the village, but with gray pants tucked in the top of his black sandals, and a dark blue jacket with long sleeves, over an opaque fishnet armor we could see now, his jacket being open. He still had his hair in a bun though.

I glanced lazily at the closed window. There was a bird behind it. A crow. Itachi was clearly the one on surveillance duty, but he wanted me to know it was him. I wonder if he looked as thin and tired than old Itachi. Hum...I'm eighteen, the first time I slept with old Itachi I was nineteen. Huh, hopefully he doesn't have the same feelings old Itachi had. The circumstances were different though, so it should be okay.

After lunch, I took them near a river in the woods. We didn't reach it though. Why? Because on the way we found ourselves between Team Seven and the Sand Siblings. Sakura looked wary of them and Sasuke was keeping Naruto in place as he was screaming at Gaara.

"What the hell Gaara!?" the blonde boy screamed and Haku tensed next to me when he recognized the voice. "You don't remember when we played together in Suna or what!? We're friends 'ttebayo!"

"I have no friends," came the cold replied and sand rose in front of him. As it started to go to my cousin, I took a regular kunai from the holder on my thigh, charged wind chakra in it and threw a wind blade. It made a clean cut in the sand and attracted their attention on us.

"Nee-ch...HAKU!?"

"Hello, Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun," he replied with a small smile. Sasuke was glaring at him, his hold on Naruto now slack. I didn't care though as I was staring at Gaara, Itachi's presence behind me more significant.

"Do you know getting in a fight with other contestants of the Chuunin Exams outside of said Exams will get you disqualified?" I asked them icily, my hands in my pockets. "Where is your supervisor?" As if they were listening, a guy poofed in front of me, half of his face hidden by a white cloth. Two red markings were on his face.

"My students are excited, it won't happen again. There is no reason for Kiri to get involved," he told me shortly. I squinted a little and shot one last glance to the Suna genin, nodding at Temari who averted her eyes immediately. Well, shit, it could only mean one thing.

"Fine, hopefully you will be able to control your students until then," I replied blandly and he frowned.

"I could say the same to you." I could feel Suigetsu grinning madly behind me.

"No worry, not doing anything will make them even better for the Exams." He scowled and left with his students. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I couldn't feel it. I couldn't feel the seal I put on Gaara years ago to keep him mentally stable.

Orochimaru, you son of a bitch. Naruto hurried to Haku to bombard him with question and I turned around.

"Stay here, I need to leave for second." Suigetsu and Chōjūrō raised their eyebrows and I body flickered. I arrived next to Itachi, in full anbu gear, in a second. "Tell the Hokage that what I did in Suna was undone." I left him without even glancing at him and body flickered back next to the kids, to be the target of Naruto's glare.

"How could you do that!?" I deadpanned at him and he clenched his fists in anger. "Zabuza...how could Kiri kill him like he was nothing!? How could you let them do that!?"

"Naruto, Kakashi-sensei told us he tried to kill his Kage! They were not going to let him back!" Sakura reminded him and grabbed his arm to keep him from moving.

"From the moment he left with anbu he was finished anyway," Sasuke added, slightly haughty.

"Sasuke!" Naruto barked at him.

I leaned closer to him, my eyes as cold as ice. "Naruto, you should hold your tongue when you're in the presence of shinobi from other villages, especially if it's to critic their methods when you're a genin."

"Konoha-softy," Suigetsu cursed under his breath.

"What was that 'ttebayo!?"

"You heard me, Konoha shinobi are called Konoha-softies in our village."

"Suigetsu, enough," I told him with a sigh. "Let's go back to our business. You'll have time to bicker during the Exams."

I walked away, ignoring Naruto cursing at me.

He'd understand one day. I'm sure of it.

I hope he will.

* * *

"Naruto-kun has a big heart," Haku told me as they were getting ready to go to the Academy.

"Hum? Ha, yeah."

"Once everything is over, no matter if we win or not, I'm sure he'll understand. It's anger, not hatred."

"I know. Why are you trying to cheer me up?"

"Your eyes have been sad, and you can't deny it. We've been living together for three, almost four month now." I shot him a small smile and flicked his nose. He rubbed it with a small frown on his face.

"You're quite the observant type, aren't ya?"

I led them to the Academy, reminding them the number of the room. We even saw Team Eight entering the building as we were reaching it.

"Okay, good luck in there. I've told you everything I needed to tell you guys, now it's all up to you. No pressure huh, but third stage, don't forget. You can go through it, and always be aware of your surrounding. Suigetsu, you have the water scroll in case?"

"Yup," he answered and showed it to me. I smirked.

"Get the hell out of here and show them what we're made of in the Hidden Mist."

They nodded and went in. I sighed and looked up at the sky as I started leaving. I had a few days until I had to go in the tower in the Forrest of Death. Yeah, the Exams proceeding were sent to us on a sheet of paper.

I jumped on the roof of a building. A second later another presence was with me. I smirked wryly and looked over my shoulder to see Itachi, dressed casually and unreadable onyx eyes glued to me. And he was taller than me now.

"What's up?" I asked him but his poker face didn't budge. It was predictable after all, except for his brother nothing could disturb him. I turned fully toward him and crossed my arms over my chest. "It's been two years, hasn't it?"

"I thought you were dead," he finally said and was it a hint of accusation in his voice? I raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry to disappoint, Yagura loves me too much to hurt me too badly. Who told you that?"

"I saw you being stabbed in the neck," he explained with a frown. Oh, probably the familiarity toward Yagura.

"You were one of the anbu then, I should have known," I said with a roll of my eyes. "Well, we're good at what we do and Yagura loves making statement and being a drama queen. I guess he didn't like organizing funerals for nothing, apparently Shisui made my death look really gruesome. Talking about him, he's not around is he?"

"Mission," Itachi replied in a whisper. "Akane, I...about last time I-"

"Don't waste your breath Itachi, it's okay. Last time we spoke, it was already decided I would go back and I was just getting ready mentally. One of the reason you weren't aware of my condition except for the fact it was highly secret, it's because I knew what your opinion would be, and you're right, I'm a coward. I didn't put up much of a fight against Shisui." Shit, why was I saying all of this? "I'm just sorry you had to discover it in such circumstances. However, no matter how much I enjoy our little talk, you're a genius and you must have already guessed by now," I stared straight into his eyes, "that Yagura sending _me here_ is for multiple reasons, one being making a statement, to show Konoha they shouldn't have touched one of his toys." Itachi clenched his fists and I couldn't help but feel warm inside, knowing it meant he didn't hate me as I though he would. "I survived the Bloody Mist and he explicitly told me to make Kiri proud of my behavior, to represent the village. As such, I expect you to do the same and treat me like a kunoichi from a village which was ready to wage war on yours two years ago. Kiri's missions...it's less painful to die than to fail," I ended in a whisper.

"I figured that much indeed," he murmured with a sad smile. I took a step back when he made a step forward. "Please...don't run away. It's just...it's just for a minute." What was he talking about? What was...

I widened my eyes, my body freezing when I found myself in his arms, my chin on his shoulder. His face was buried in the crook of my neck and my cold facade broke when I felt just how _tight_ his arms were around my waist.

"Allow me this one thing please," he whispered in my ear with _sorrow_ and my heart stopped. ' _Allow me this one thing_.' old Itachi told me once in a rare moment where he showed he cared for me. No, it wasn't fair, this Itachi couldn't just tell me the exact same thing!

"Itachi..." He let go of me and looked down at my face. He opened his mouth when he saw my almost _scared_ face. "Would you...when Shisui comes back, explain the situation to him. I can't handle everyone and my team. I need to..."

"I will," he promised me, "and Naruto will come around too."

I nodded slowly and left.

Fuck Itachi, what was the matter with you? You can't just hug me and sound so hurt out of nowhere dammit! I forgot how he was extreme about...

About what he cared for...

Right, if you manage to befriend an Uchiha you can be sure it's for life. Well, fuck my life.

* * *

"Are they dumb?" Suigetsu asked his teammates as they stopped to watch a group of people crowding in front of a room on the second floor.

"The sign said the room whose numbers start by a three were on the third floor, right?" Haku replied with a slight frown on his face.

"It's...it's probably a test to reduce the number of contestants before the Exams," Chōjūrō stated and the other two looked at him. "They probably put a genjutsu on the number. If people get fooled by that they shouldn't be chuunin."

"Hey, who would have thought Konoha could be so cunning in the end?" Suigetsu said and crossed his arms behind his head, the group going to the third floor. Once in the room, Suigetsu shivered in excitement at the number of genin. "Now, that's something I like to see."

"They're all staring at us," the Yuki boy whispered to Chōjūrō. "There used to be tension?"

"Yes," was the only response he got before they went to a side of the room. The three of them glanced all around the room. The Suna team was already there, just like the one from Oto. Many genin from Konoha had already arrived, including one with a puppy.

"When do you think the ones from yesterday will..." Suigetsu never finished his sentence as a girly voice screamed 'Sasuke-kun'.

The trio of the Mist shifted their eyes to a group of shinobi from Konoha, including the three they saw the day before. The pinkette of the team went up to short-haired girl with pale lilac eyes and started talking to her. The nine genin talked until a gray haired man with glasses walked up to them, calling them rookies.

"They just graduated then?" Suigetsu pondered out loud. "They graduate old here."

"Each village has its own graduation requirement, and Konoha is not at war," Haku stated simply.

"You got a point there. But that guy with the glasses, I don't like hi..."

The trio froze on their spot as a genin from the Sound attacked. Most of his face was wrapped in bandage and his arm was covered in metal. Even from their spot, they witnessed the glasses boy stopped the blow and yet have his glasses broken and then throw up on the floor. Chōjūrō started when a hand grasped his shoulder, and he glanced at Suigetsu, to see him trembling. The Yuki noticed the situation too, and frowned.

"That genin must have used sound wave," Chōjūrō muttered as the white-haired swordsman got back to his senses.

"Sound travels four time faster in water than in the air," Haku added in a murmur. Suigetsu rolled his eyes.

"Just my luck."

In the group from Konoha, they watched the Sound-nin leaving and Sasuke turned to Kabuto, who was slowly getting better.

"And Kiri?"

"Only one team was sent. It's expected knowing them that the result will be the same than the last time one of their team was sent in a foreign Chuunin Exam." Seeing the attention of the genin, he sighed. "In Kumo, six years ago, the only team reached the final stage, and the last fight was between two of their genin. It was also the last time the Mizukage was seen outside of the Land of Water."

"You have information on Haku?" Naruto sent his friend a curious glance. Sasuke seemed to have a bone to pick with their old enemy.

"Haku." Kabuto threw chakra in a card and the image of Haku appeared. "He was made a genin three months ago and has done no D-rank mission, but C and B ranks."

"Hey, the jounin responsible for him and his team, it's Akane-sensei," Shikamaru noticed with surprise.

"Oh yeah!" Choji added.

"Sensei?" Kabuto repeated. "That girl is the one who won the Exam in Kumo. I don't know why you're calling her sensei, but be careful. She's one of the best kunoichi, actually shinobi of her generation. The Fourth Mizukage trained her personally from the beginning." Most of them widened their eyes.

Shikamaru yawned. "It explains why she knows so many water jutsu."

Sasuke shot a look at Naruto, who had his head down. His eyes were shadowed but the Uchiha didn't need to see him to know he was troubled, and probably felt betrayed. The woman they saw in the forest was miles away from the Akane they knew, she was colder, more dangerous.

"Sasuke, Sakura-chan!" he suddenly called them, becoming the center of attention of more than just his teammates. He turned to the crowd of genin with a confident smirk on his face, looking a lot like Sasuke's when he knew he was right, and pointed a finger at them. "We're gonna beat all of them and become chuunin dattebayo!"

"You idiot, why would you say something like that!?" Sakura started to panic next to Hinata, but Sasuke stopped her by grabbing her arm. "Sasuke-kun?"

"Let him be, he needs to make a statement."

Back to the Mist trio, they were watching Naruto.

"Definitely sensei's relative, she said we would know when we see him," Chōjūrō commented. At that moment, older shinobi from Konoha entered the room, one of them having scars on his face. He gave instructions, forbidding killing and saying fighting was allowed if said so.

They went to give their registration and got a number. Haku ended up a row behind Sasuke, Chōjūrō was in the last row of the central line of desks and Suigetsu was close to the front at the left one. The main instructor, Morino Ibiki, went through the rules and the exam started. It was not complicated to realize they wanted the genin to cheat. Their sensei told them it was an exam to see if they could be chuunin, and that chuunin were squad leaders and middle-rank shinobi. If they were sent on B-rank missions, then there would be Intel gathering.

Chōjūrō scanned the room, trying to spot anyone with the answer. He found one near him and took his forehead protector off, trying to reach Suigetsu by playing with the light. One of the things Kirigakure taught was how to communicate by multiple ways, and being in the Resistance used that a lot. Suigetsu took his forehead protector off too and replied.

As Chōjūrō was reaching Haku, Suigetsu closed his eyes and liquefied half of his left forearm, knowing he was between people who could hide him and that it was under the desk all along. He controlled his now water arm though the rows and made it go on the wall at the back of the room. Once above the guy Chōjūrō spotted, he formed it so that it could reflect the answers.

Haku made the tiger seal under the desk and slowly froze the water. Once it was done, he used his hitai-ate to reflect the answers, and noticed Suigetsu doing to same, as Chōjūrō could see them in the ice mirror directly. When the answers were written, the Yuki boy slowly released his technique so that his teammate could control his limb without being detected.

When the time for the tenth question arrived, lots of genin were already eliminated. Ibiki asked them if anyone wanted not to go through and that if they didn't have the right answer, they would remain genin forever.

They couldn't stop here, it was clear for the three of them. The Mizukage would kill them. They had to stay in the Exams for the mission.

The mission was above everything else, so their hands remained on their tables. However, at Naruto's claim that he wasn't scared, Suigetsu grinned in amusement, Haku had a small smile and Chōjūrō could not believe his eyes.

And they all passed. As Ibiki explained the real goal of the test, revealing a head full of scars, the Mist trio all shared a knowing look. They knew all too well information was the most powerful weapon.

Their eyes widened when a woman broke a window and landed in front of the examiner, with a huge purple sheet behind her.

"Everybody, there's no time to be happy! I am the Second Examiner Mitarashi Anko! Let's go to the next exam! Follow me!" She raised her fist in the air to stress her words, but it was dead silent.

However, they succeeded the first exam. Now it was time for the second.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :) Thanks to those who left reviews.**

 **Ederisu:** **Well who knows?**

 **nevvy:** **Sasuke looks after his big brother's love life x) and well, who knows what Orochimaru could have in mind?**

 **Nea-Nyx:** **An awful dilemma, isn't it?**

 **kankananime123:** **Sorry for breaking your heart x) I hope it didn't break this time! Or maybe I do, I don't know :)**

 **YasmineXanime:** **I entirely agree with you about Shisui, he would totally be a rebound and Akane knows it too, just like Itachi is the same without being the same. As for Minato, I was planning on using him for particular moments in the story, but it's true that until now I haven't really used him a lot. He will have his moments though :)**

 **Bye !**


	24. Chuunin Exams Arc: Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 12**

 **Shisui: 21**

 **Kakashi: 26**

* * *

"Here we are, the Forrest of Death, forty-fourth training ground. Literally hell. Beware of the wild animals," their sensei told them before leaving them. They shared a look and walked to the other genin.

"Beware of the Examiner too," Suigetsu muttered, "crazy bitch. I bet Uzu is laughing her ass off right now."

"There's no point talking about it, we just need to pass," Haku reminded him calmly, heading off with Chōjūrō. Suigetsu caught up with them quickly when he realized they were not waiting for him.

They looked up at the forest. Huge trees obstructed the dark sight, and the sound of wild animals could be heard. The Examiner welcomed them, and apart from Naruto mocking her and her cutting his cheek with a kunai and being creepy, nothing was out of the ordinary. Oh, the kunoichi from Kusa was weird too, with her long tongue.

"And they say we are the ruthless one. All the creeps are here," the white-haired boy stated blandly.

"We need to be on our guards," the Yuki whispered with a slight frown directed at the team from Kusa.

They got the consent paper and went different ways to sign it. However, Haku raised his eyes from his paper when he noticed someone next to him. Indeed, Naruto was crouched in front of him and was staring with squinted eyes.

"Naruto-kun?" the blond leaned closer to his face and the Kiri-nin leaned backward. "Na...Naruto-kun?"

"What happened to my sister 'ttebayo!?" he asked him loudly. "She was nice and funny before, and now she's all dark and mean! What did they do to her!?"

"I..." Haku put on a fake smile, even though he wanted to gulp at Naruto's persistent staring. "I don't know, but Uzu-sensei has been nothing but kind to me since she saved my life." He widened his eyes at the same time than Naruto, who seemed to realize something. "Forget what I said, don't repeat it please."

"I knew she wasn't mean! She..." He snorted with a shaky smile. "She's still in there 'ttebayo. And she saved you and we can be friends!"

"For now we're enemies."

"Well yeah, but after! I'm glad you're here Haku, really!" He sat in front of him and started to fill his paper, a happy aura around him. Once it was done, Naruto got up quickly as Haku's teammates were coming, a questioning air on their faces. "Good luck!" He ran to Sasuke and Sakura, who were watching them too. Actually, a lot of people had been peeking at the Konoha-nin and the Kiri-nin when they were together.

"The fuck Haku?" Suigetsu asked him, but he ignored him. They gave their papers and were given an Scroll of Earth. As they were at one of the entrance, Haku turned to them with a stunned face.

"I messed up, I told Naruto-kun sensei saved my life." There was a long silence, and Suigetsu pointed at him while laughing.

"For once you...you fucked up and you're not perfect...BWAHAHAHA I'M SO TELLING UZU!" The tip of his target's ears turned a deep red. Meanwhile, Chōjūrō had been holding his chin, deep in thoughts.

"It...it should be okay," he piped up and the other two turned to look at him. "It could turn to our advantage once she knows. Let's focus on getting a Scroll of Heaven for now." They nodded and the door opened.

"Hey, can we have fun by getting more than a simple scroll?" Suigetsu inquired once they were in the trees. "Like, we get rid of the competition by getting as much as we can?"

"We should get one and head to the tower as fast as we can. No use to waste our strength."

"You're no fun Haku!" the youngest member of the team pouted.

"Guys, watch out for Konoha leeches."

"Right!" They jumped down near a river. "I'll go as a scout. Some team should be making water supplies to save time."

"You'll be fine with your technique?" Chōjūrō asked him and he got a nod in response.

"If I have water around I'm perfectly fine." Suigetsu jumped in the river and his body disappeared.

"Should we make a plan while he's looking around, Chōjūrō?"

"I guess heading to the tower now would be the best choice. Even if we don't have the two scrolls we will still see teams who do." Haku nodded. It was a good plan, straight to the point and it would make them avoid useless fights.

Suigetsu went back an hour after, a Scroll of Heaven in his hand and a smug grin on his lips. Chōjūrō and Haku sighed in sync, which made Suigetsu blinked in confusion. They started to head to the tower in silence and taking breaks often because of Suigetsu's need to drink. However, they made sure to stay near the river.

"Incoming!" he suddenly yelled and they dispersed, sand shuriken flying where they were seconds ago. Haku widened his eyes when he felt a feeling of dread in his stomach. The same one he felt before Naruto defeated him. From the corner of his eyes, he noticed Chōjūrō taking a look at them and the colors left his face.

"Red haired guy," Suigetsu mumbled under his breath, sword in hand.

"Mother wants...blood..." They heard a hollow voice say. Akane was right, there was something wrong with him.

* * *

Naruto was out cold, caught by one of Sakura's kunai while he was shaking from head to toes. That...that thing in front of him was here to kill. He wanted their lives, he wanted blood and wouldn't stop until he had it. Sasuke could feel his female teammate, who changed so much since the Wave and who was probably trying to see what injuries Naruto had from her position, thinking as fast as she could. How could they fight back that man though? They were genin, and one of them was unable to fight.

"Sasuke-kun...it's a shame Itachi-kun is too old now but your body will be perfect..." the man trailed off and a shiver ran down his spine. What was he talking about? Body? He wanted his or his brother's body?

No matter how they were looking at it, they were going to die.

"Sasuke-kun..." His wide eyes turned to Sakura, who didn't look any better with her swollen lip. She tried to get Sasuke to throw a syringe of God-knows-what at the opponent, who used his snake summon to stop it. Sakura was sent flying against a tree after, and Naruto arrived just in time to stop the huge snake to eat him. Then he was knocked out after the man did something to him. Sasuke was sure he saw flames of his fingertips. "I need to get to Naruto, please, _please_ , try to gain some time. It's...you don't need to be like Itachi-san to be strong." He looked at her and nodded. Taking a deep breath, his sharingan shone brightly in his eyes and he charged. Naruto was his first friend and Sakura, no matter how annoying she had been for years, was growing on him, especially after she found something she wanted to do.

As Sasuke started to attack, Sakura made her way to Naruto, getting him on one of the thick branches. She started to examine him, trying not to mix the texts of the medical books she read because of the dangerous situation. It was something to take care of Naruto and Sasuke after training. It was something else in a real situation. After the mission in the Land of Wave, where they were in danger because of Zabuza and Haku, she felt useless. Especially when two Kiri anbu appeared out of nowhere. They had been on their side, but if it had been the opposite, they would have all died and she wouldn't have been able to do anything.

When she came back, she asked Kakashi if there was a field where her chakra control would be useful. He directed her to Naruto's aunt, who even though she didn't have a lot of time, accepted to give her a shot. Fuinjutsu had endless possibilities, but it was long and complicated. Even Sasuke, who had been studying it for five years couldn't use them in fights. Even Naruto. So Akiko asked her what she wanted to do, if she really wanted to be on the front right now with Sasuke and Naruto.

The answer was 'I don't know', and she realized how powerless she felt when that anbu was taking the senbon out of Sasuke.

She had borrowed three different books about medical ninjutsu from the library that evening. Unfortunately, even with Kakashi with her, nobody at the hospital was willing to teach her the practical. She settled with theory and having as much medicines and knowledge she could. Right now, Naruto seemed to physically be fine. She could use that medical seal Naruto's aunt gave her before the Exams, but it was a one use only, and with Sasuke fighting, he could be in need more than Naruto who was sleeping.

"Argh!" Sasuke groan of pain made her avert her eyes to him, who had been thrown in the trunk of a tree, the wood cracking under the shock. A red light next to her made her jump, and the man, whose face was half melted from one of Sasuke's fire jutsu, turned to her. She looked down and felt relief wash over her at the sight of Haku's team. They were Kiri, they were enemies, but she knew them.

"I knew Kiri was still angry at me. They're so bitter even though they took it back," the man sighed, looking at Sasuke once again, who was on the verge of fainting. Sakura's heart missed a beat as he took a step toward Sasuke, and didn't even budge when Haku was suddenly next to her, checking on Naruto.

"Katon: Phoenix Flower Jutsu," a male voice said, and burning shuriken arrived toward the man. He moved back to dodge and looked at the new presence, now in front of Sasuke, with a smug smirk.

"Ha, Itachi-kun, it has been a while."

"Orochimaru," the Uchiha replied coldly. He shot them a look, and looked at his brother who was clutching his right shoulder, and faced Orochimaru. "I don't know what you want, but you won't get it."

"You won't always be around him Itachi-kun. Sasuke-kun has so much potential, I don't want him to waste it."

Orochimaru left. He ran away, and Sakura allowed herself to shake like a leaf because of the repercussions. She thought they were going to die. The three of them.

"Sakura." She raised her eyes to Itachi, who had Sasuke under his arm. "Kiri, good emergency seal, your sensei had a good intuition."

"Thanks," was the reply, and the Yuki looked down at his...only one teammate? Weren't they two? Where was the one with white hair? They looked like they had been through hell, Haku's clothes having holes at his shoulder.

"Sakura, you have to take care of them," Itachi told her blandly, leaving Sasuke next to them. "I stepped in because of Orochimaru, but I have to report this. The test is still ongoing."

"Fi...Fine..." she stuttered much like Hinata. Itachi left promptly, leaving her with two unconscious teammates and enemies with her. She turned a scared look to Haku, who returned it with a blank gaze. He blinked once and looked over at Sasuke, and then at Naruto. She was done for. But Naruto said Haku was a nice guy, he wouldn't take advantage of the situation right? They didn't even have a scroll anymore.

"Let's make a truce," Haku said, taking Naruto on his back. "Take Sasuke-kun and get down." She did, and tried to ignore the fear in the pit of her stomach at the blue-haired teenager, whose teeth were sharp. "Chōjūrō, her team is out, we need to rest. Let's make a truce."

"Okay." Sakura was surprised at the soft spoken voice. "I need space for him." He turned to her and pointed at Sasuke. "Do...Do you want me to carry him?" Oh, he was shy.

"I..."

"Sakura-san, you went through a difficult fight. Carrying Sasuke-kun isn't good." The Chōjūrō guy took Sasuke on his back and they looked at her.

"You...you know Konoha's surrounding better than us, would you mind..."

"I don't want you behind me," the reply came faster than she thought.

"Sakura-san, if we wanted to fight you, you would be like the boys," Haku stated calmly. "We don't need another scroll."

At sunset, they found a spot under a stump. Sasuke and Naruto were still sleeping. She wanted to give them stimulants, to make their recovery faster, but she had no idea if she could without risking their health more. Sasuke seemed to have fainted from exhaustion. Naruto...whatever that Orochimaru did, it was not good. They didn't have fever, so it was good.

"Suigetsu, you're okay?" She heard Chōjūrō say behind her. She turned to him and widened her eyes. As Haku was putting traps around, his friend had summoned a basin of water big enough to put someone in it.

"Man, never again," a tired male voice said, and she kept herself from screaming when a head popped out of the water, much like the anbu in the Land of Wave. "I don't even know why I told you to leave me behind in his fucking sand cocoon. The guy is creepy!"

"You survived, it was just a physical attack."

"He crushed me!"

"Haku and I would have died?"

"Hmph, at least you ran away and came back to take me when they were gone." He crawled out of the basin and quirked a brow at her. "Who's pinky? Why are they down? Can I kill them?"

"No, we have a truce," Haku told him as he came back. "They were attacked by Orochimaru and I used sensei's emergency seal. It looked like he wanted Sasuke-kun."

"Well," Suigetsu started with a snort as he laid down, "he's an Uchiha, Orochimaru likes special abilities." He took a canteen with a straw and started drinking. "When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow morning, is it good for you both?" Haku asked them, kneeling next to him as Chōjūrō sat too. They nodded. "We need rest after that fight against Suna, especially you Suigetsu."

Sakura gulped, her hands clenching the fabric of her dress. They didn't have any scroll and Haku implied they had two already. Maybe, during the night, she could try to steal them.

No, she was alone and they were three, they would kill her.

She would...she would need to trust them for now.

* * *

It was official. I was bored. The tower was gloomy and my genin were not there yet.

I sighed. I hope they wouldn't run into the Sound or Suna. Or worse, Orochimaru. Until they get here, I wouldn't know anyway. It was between me and my speculations. When wasn't it between me and my speculations anyway?

I groaned and looked at the ceiling. I wonder how many tiles there are. Oh, should I count all of them one by one or multiply? But counting them one by one would last longer. Okay, let's do th...

"Akane." I jumped out of my skin and glared at Itachi, who was staring at me with a blank face. However, I raised a brow when he motioned me to follow him. I did, and found myself in the presence of the Hokage.

"Orochimaru infiltrated the Second Exam and targeted Team Seven. It was a chance your team had an emergency seal visible from the forest perimeter," Sandaime informed me with a pointed look. "Would you mind explaining why they had one?"

"Actually I made one for each of them," I corrected him under my breath. Under Sandaime's gaze, my eyes turned cold and I took Yagura's orders. In it, he sealed an 'emergency' scroll he told me. I took it and raised a brow when I realized it was conditions under which I was allowed to say to Konoha Orochimaru pissed us off and we were tracking him. The Sannin showing himself during the Exam was one of the condition. "The Mizukage seemed to have taken measures and deemed giving you information necessary in particular cases. Fine then, not long after I went back to the Hidden Mist, Orochimaru kidnapped a genin of our village in order to experiment on them. We got them back, but ever since we have been tracking his moves. We had Intel he might try something, as a consequence I gave emergency seals to my students."

"I see, his thirst of jutsu made him an enemy of Kirigakure," the old man sighed. "Then if I were to say the Chuunin Exams is not the main reason the Mizukage decided to send a team in a foreign country after six years, would I be wrong?"

"It is up to you to decide Hokage-sama," I replied with a wry smirk. "The Mizukage despises Konoha, but he despises Orochimaru even more. We have a common enemy. May I?" I asked and pointed to the exit, just as a tired Anko appeared in the doorway. The Hokage nodded and I left.

Huh...did Orochimaru do something to Sasuke though? I mean, it seemed like Sakura had a change of heart earlier than what old Sakura told me, maybe she managed to do something? I hope so. If Sasuke could not defect to go to that pedophile, it would be great. He didn't even have a reason to anyway, right? I mean, he wasn't planning on killing his murderer of a brother here, right?

As I was against a wall in a hallway, Itachi walked next to me and lifted his mask on his head, his body resting against the wall. I glanced at him from the corner of my eyes and noticed he looked concerned about something. Now I was wondering how my students were doing. After all, they had been close to that guy. Would Suigetsu be okay?

"Thank you," the Uchiha next to me murmured and I barely heard him. "If it wasn't for that seal, I don't know what Orochimaru would have done to Sasuke."

"Don't thank me, I didn't tell my genin to go to Orochimaru. It was a happy coincidence," I replied and he 'hn-ed' in return. I crossed my arms over my chest and waited in an uncomfortable silence.

"Have you encountered him?" Itachi suddenly asked me.

"No, and I'm fine with that." He nodded and seemed to want to say something else but decided otherwise. Well, I hope my team won't take too long. They still had four days but still.

* * *

Sakura woke up first, the first sunbeams piercing with difficulty through the thick foliage of the trees. The boys were still sleeping, and a look at the Kiri team was enough for her to know she was the only one up. Or at least under the stump, because Haku was missing. Sakura got up and stretched herself before checking their canteens. They would need to get more water soon.

She spun around when a senbon was thrown. A squirrel. Just a squ...

"Trap," the Yuki muttered to himself as he appeared behind the animal. She saw him frown and she ran to him when he was ready to kill the animal. Haku raised his eyes to her. "Explosive tag, step aside Sakura-san."

"I can make it useless." She knelt next to the scared animal and placed a hand above the tag. Letting her chakra analyzing it, she broke the explosive seal on it as she felt a slight implosion in the chakra of the seal. The animal ran away as fast as his paws could carry them. Sakura sighed and looked up at Haku, who was tensed. "Haku-san?"

"Sakura-san, please go back to them," he whispered to her with grave brown eyes. She gulped and silently agreed.

Haku shot a look at his teammates. Suigetsu was still recovering, his body not in a gel like form anymore, and Chōjūrō was still recuperating his chakra. He used more than him against the Sand, and the Yuki wished he had asked Zabuza-san or his sensei to teach him the Hiding in the Mist technique. It would give him an advantage for his techniques, because there was no water around. He could use the technique Uzu taught him, but his chakra reserves were not full yet.

Still, in front of them, three genin appeared, wearing proudly forehead protectors with a music note carved in them.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :) Thanks to those who left reviews.**

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	25. Chuunin Exams Arc: Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 12**

 **Shisui: 21**

 **Kakashi: 26**

* * *

Sakura widened her eyes as Haku was sent in a tree. One of their opponent had expelled compressed air from his hands. It was only one of them too, there was another boy and a girl.

"We're here to kill Uchiha Sasuke, nothing more," the bandaged one droned. Sakura frowned.

"What, after Orochimaru it's you!? What did Sasuke-kun do to you people!?" The three of the Sound twitched. Sakura shot a look at her only ally and she bit her lip. Haku's shoulder was bleeding, as if a wound had been reopened. His teammates were still down. The fight they had been involved in before they helped her had drained them.

"Dozu, we kill her too?" the girl asked the mummy.

"Yes, she knows too much. We kill those from Kiri too." They charged at her and she forced herself to get a kunai, the muscles in her arm screaming at her to rest. They never made it to her as someone kicked them away. "Who are you?"

"Konoha's beautiful green beast, Rock Lee!" He turned to Sakura. "Sakura-san, please rest, I will take care of them."

As for the other fight, Haku was trying to ignore the pain in his shoulder. One of the girl's attack, based of wind, had cut him. He had tried to fix it as much as he could but that guy made it bleed once again. Plus, be it senbon or taijutsu, he could deflect everything with the air he was expelling from his open palms.

"Is that all Kiri has!? I was expecting more!"

Haku needed water. He needed to plug the ducts. He needed to focus on the arms. A look at Sakura-san and the fight of the green shinobi told him he was on his own.

" _Hey Haku, you completely mastered the technique I taught you , right?"_

" _Yes," he replied to Uzu, who mused over it._

" _Okay, I'll give you a choice. Or we try to get to your wind chakra right now and I teach you the only real offensive technique I know, or we make you reinforce your water technique."_

" _What do you mean?"_

" _Well, wind chakra is actually hard to control. A lot of people use it to sharpen their weapon." She took two regular kunai from the holster on her right thigh and gave him one. "We'll throw them at the tree at three. One, two, three!" They did, her kunai going through the tree easily as his was stuck in it. "See what I mean?"_

" _Yes. Do you want me to mix some wind chakra to the Wild Water Wave?"_

" _Yep. It's very high-level for regular shinobi. But you have an Ice Release, you've been mixing the two for ever. Put more water than wind chakra in your technique and bam! Your technique gets as destructive as Suigetsu's Water Gun Technique. So, which one do you want?"_

" _The last option. I think if I can control my wind chakra enough to do that, the rest should be easier."_

" _Let's start with the most difficult then."_

He didn't want to kill or hurt his opponent too much, but his technique was hard to block. He couldn't be at full speed either because he was still tired. If he could put the good amount of wind chakra in the Wild Water Wave technique, without turning it in ice, then he could reach the ducts and then freeze it inside. He jumped on the side to dodge, again, and again. Then he stopped and faced Zaku, the Dragon, Tiger and Hare seals already done. He felt water coming, and as it was in his mouth, he infused wind chakra in it. He stopped just before he felt the water cooling too much and spit it. The water jet was more compacted.

"As if it would work!" He used his technique but the water went through, making him widened his eyes. It went inside his left palm and a cry of pain was heard when water pierced through his shoulder. Haku took this opportunity to run to him and make him unconscious with senbon, even if he did something to the earth just before with his valid arm. That Zaku never saw it coming. He had been overconfident, Uzu told him it was the biggest weakness a shinobi could display.

The Yuki boy turned to the other fight. If the one in green spandex was exhausted next to the 'chief', the latter was on a rise of earth.

"I was almost done," the Sound nin said as he got up, surprising the green one. He looked at them and frowned at the unconscious form of his teammate, two senbon in his neck. "Kin!" he said as he charged at the green one and used his sound wave to incapacitate him.

"Busy!" Indeed, she was busy strangling Sakura on the ground. Haku barely made a move to go than the lack of chakra in him made his world spin a little. However, Sakura, even though she started to lack oxygen, managed to grab two vials from her pouch and stuck them in Kin's thigh. She moved back immediately. "What did you...argh!" She started to puke and Sakura rolled away from it, gasping for air. Once it was stable, she smirked at the sick kunoichi.

"I have a teammate who doesn't think twice about eating what he finds in nature. I had to have something to clean his stomach. It's just emetic. A strong dose to make you throw up too much to stay conscious afterward."

Dosu looked at his team. They were in a bad situation. He never though the only team from Kiri would ally with the team they were supposed to attack, and only one of them was up.

"Take your teammate and leave," a new voice snarled next to Sakura.

"Sasuke-kun, you're awake!" she cried out with relief. Sasuke looked all around him and then grabbed some shuriken to throw them at Dosu.

"I won't repeat myself."

"I will for now," he agreed and put a scroll down, "but next time we won't lose." He grabbed the other two Sound ninja and disappeared. Sasuke took the Scroll of Earth.

"That was a fight! Too bad we didn't have the time to be in it, we would have make it even faster! Hi Sasuke-kun!" Sakura looked at Ino in surprise, even though she could see the blonde was lying. Shikamaru and Chouji were making that pretty clear too just by their faces.

"Sakura, rest and you'll tell us what we missed when Naruto wakes up." Sasuke told her, eyeing her up and down, which made her blush. She followed Sasuke's gaze toward Kiri, where all the members of the team were awake now. Chōjūrō was supporting Haku whereas the other one was drinking.

"It's fine Sasuke-kun, they helped me moving you and Naruto. I would be dead if it wasn't for them." Sakura whispered to the Uchiha, who grunted is response. "Sasuke-kun, bring me Lee-san please."

After a few minutes, Lee's team came to pick him up, Shikamaru and Chouji woke Naruto up as Ino was checking her injuries. From the corner of her eyes, she saw the Kiri team getting ready to leave.

"Haku-san! Chōjūrō-san!" Said boys turned around. "Thank you for your help." Haku smiled at her and Chōjūrō blushed to the tip of his ears. Then, they disappeared, right when Naruto woke up.

"I had the best sleep!" Naruto said as he stretched like a cat. He raised a sheepish look on the boys of Team Ten. "What are you doing here?"

"We ended up watching the fight and we woke you up, idiot," Shikamaru replied lazily, "Go ask Sakura for more explanations, she's pretty much the only one on your team to have fought those guys from the Sound."

Naruto blinked at him and slowly turned his gaze to his team. They were fighting a man and next thing he knew Sakura fought against a full team? He got up and went to her, who was trying to use the healing seal his aunt gave her on Sasuke, who kept telling her he was fine.

"Sakura-chan, what happened?"

"Lots of things Naruto, lots of things," she answered him with a tired smile, "you and Sasuke-kun have been sleeping since yesterday evening."

* * *

"I had a great night though," Suigetsu repeated for the fifth time.

"You should have woken us up," Chōjūrō said as he was helping Haku walking, "you did get hurt too yesterday."

"I know, but I was in the best shape," he whispered and swallowed a soldier pill. "I'll rest at the tower, it's the second day and we won't move until the fifth one."

"Let's hurry then!" That got Suigetsu's raised eyebrows. "What? No way I'm staying any longer in that forest with those Sand guys and Orochimaru lurking around!"

"Oh, so when he's scarred he is fast." Chōjūrō chuckled at Haku's remark.

On the way, they helped a red-haired girl from Kusa against a bear. More like Haku did and Suigetsu complained about it. They reached the tower at the end of the second day. In front of them was a riddle.

"If you do not possess Heaven, gain knowledge and be prepared. If you do not possess Earth, run through the fields and seek strength. If you open both Heaven and Earth scrolls, dangerous paths turn into safe path. This is the secret of something, it shall lead you on the way." Chōjūro read slowly. "There's a word missing."

"Who cares, they're asking to open these damn scrolls!" Suigetsu yelled, taking the two to open them. They started to glow and he threw them away. A puff of smoke later a chuunin appeared.

"Welcome, and congratulations. You've finished the Second Exam." Tension left all of them. "Now..."

"Hey, if it's over can we rest?"

"Show respect Suigetsu!" a feminine voice said from above. The whole team raised their eyes to meet their sensei's smirk and waving. "You look like you've been through hell." She body flickered in front of them and glanced at the chuunin over her shoulder. "Do you wish for me to take over Kotetsu-san? I know how to handle them."

"Of course," he grumbled and left them. Uzu clapped.

"Now, now, two days out of five, congrats. What do you think is the missing word?"

"Dunno, don't care."

"The point of the Chuunin Exams is to test our capacities to be chuunin. So is it the missing word?" Haku droned on, clearly exhausted.

"And we have a winner! That's something the Hokage came up with. Heaven is your mind, Earth is your body, train them both and you'll be great chuunin. Okay, now follow me! We have a _lot_ of talking to do. And it looks like you want to rest and drink a lot."

Indeed, before their talk, Suigetsu drank around three liters of water, almost in one go.

* * *

"I should call you 'Team Trouble', running into all the persons I didn't want you to run into," I sighed and rubbed the back of my head. "I must be rubbing off on you. Anyway, Haku you can rest in a bed now. As the exam is still running for three days, you can't see a medic and I can't help you either. You're pretty much still on your own, even if fighting with other teams in the tower is prohibited."

"Why are we talking then?" Chōjūro asked me. I raised a finger in front of him and pointed it at him.

"That, dear student of mine, is because you ran into an S-rank missing-nin. You used the seal and the Hokage asked me to see him and tell him why you had one to begin with. Yagura had anticipated that possibility, and I told him Orochimaru was an enemy of the Mist and we had Intel. He wanted me to hear your report. They basically know we have a mission. Anyway, you were right to intervene. Who knew what he would have done to Sasuke." What would have happened knowing he had his family here though? "I'll be going then."

I left their room and went back to the one for the jounin. Haku could have easily taken care of these three from the Sound if it hadn't been for their fight with the Sand. They must have guessed he was a jinchuriki though. They all saw Yagura, Utakata-senpai was always at the hideout, and Haku witnessed a weakening in Kurama's seal during his fight on the bridge. Now we had to wait until the end of the Second Exam. Anbu were probably still examining the forest, I know they put a genjutsu around the zone of the attack to keep genin away but Orochimaru must have fled already. He would come back soon, that was for sure, but...

Let's look at the bright side: he didn't try to abduct Suigetsu again.

I would have to send a message to Yagura though.

And just like that, the three following days passed slowly. I worked on some seals derived from the Hiraishin and oji-chan would remind me he was still there and asked me to test stuff for him. We figured how to cut the connection though, and he knew I was busy, so he kept the talking to the bare minimum. But as for the 'security' for jinchuriki, we figured that if we could get an extract of the bijuu chakra and seal it in a different place in a jinchuriki's chakra as someone is being turned in a jinchuriki, it would avoid them death if the bijuu was extracted.

I was happy to have Minato backing me up though. I wouldn't be able to handle everything on my own. Still, there was a problem with what he came up with. It was to be done _during_ the sealing. We needed to get an extract of the bijuu chakra. We needed to form the seal so that it would activate on its own if the bijuu was extracted. We needed to see if the jinchuriki could handle it.

I tilted my head back against the wall. I needed to put directional signs on my kunai with my markers too. I had to find the middle ground for the kunai to transfer the marker on whatever surface it was on and still adapt itself to the surface. I would see how to teleport others later. I could do it to Uma because he was one of my summon and our chakra were in perfect sync with each other already, because a small portion of my chakra was in him when I summoned him.

"The last team has arrived, the jounin responsible for the teams are reuniting in the sparring room," a chuunin told me and I nodded before following him. I found myself behind the Hokage with the others sensei. Kakashi was here, good, Kurenai-san, Gai-san and Asuma-san from Konoha. Then there was me , between Kakashi and the guy from the Sand, and Oto at the far right. I front of us, there were shinobi responsible for the Exam, but also Itachi who was wearing the standard jounin attire. It was weird to see him dressed like that to be honest. He probably was the Hokage's security detail. The genin arrived little by little and I noticed that Temari had a very bad bruise on her right leg and her ankle was bandaged, but they also were starring at my team, more precisely Suigetsu. Right, Gaara was supposed to have crushed him and here he was, casually drinking his water.

"First off, congratulations on passing the Second Exam." Anko started with an interested smirk on her face.

"Your team is pretty good," Gai-san admitted on the other side of Kakashi, "Perhaps they were lucky. But as long as my team is here they can't go any further. Since, in the next stage, personal abilities will be critical." Oh, perfect for _my_ team. "Youth is sweet and sour, and sometimes strict, Kakashi."

"Hm? Did you say something?" I kept myself from snickering. Some things would just never, ever change.

"We will now have an explanation of the Third Exam from Hokage-sama! Everyone listen well!" Anko declared in her mic. She turned to the Hokage. "Hokage-sama, please do the honors."

"The Third Exam will start immediately. But before the explanation, there's one thing I want to make clear for all of you. It's about the purpose of this exam." He explained that it was a sort of war between countries in time of peace, because thinking it was just for friendship between Allied Nations was naive. Kiri and Konoha were close to war two years ago. As the Hokage finally reached the end of his explanation, someone landed in front of him.

"Excuse me Hokage-sama, I, Gekkou Hayate, will explain," the proctor said.

"Please do."

"Everyone, it's nice to meet you. Before the Third Exam, there is something," he coughed. He looked sick anyway. "I want you to do. Fight in preliminary matches to see who gets to advance to the Third Exam's main battle. As there is twenty-one of you, the person who won't get picked up will automatically pass, unless someone wants to give up."

Well, from the number of people and if the next Exam is a tournament, it was logical, and they even let the pressure of the fights for the one who won't actually fight. There was no raised hand though. After the explanations, I raised my eyes to the screen showing the names of the fighters. It passed over many names and stopped.

Uchiha Sasuke versus Yamanaka Ino.

Well...

"What!?" Ino shrieked and everybody around her plugged their ears. "I can't be fighting Sasuke-kun!"

"Everyone but the contestants, go to the balconies." Hayate told us and I smirked at Sasuke's frozen face. Physically fighting a fangirl was never on his to-do list I think, yet I bet he though about it before. But he also knew the gap between them, even if he looked more tired than Ino. Once I was with my team on the balcony where the foreign teams were, I leaned my elbows on the railing. Ino was freaking out and Sasuke was already bored. Naruto making fun of him from above was not helping either. "And start!" Hayate jumped out of the fighting area.

Sasuke threw three kunai at her and she did the same, the weapons bumping into each other, and Sasuke was behind her. He hit her in the neck and she collapsed of the floor, the Uchiha not even wavering at the sight of Ino in front of him.

"Winner: Uchiha Sasuke!" the proctor said. Sasuke 'hn-ed' and had the kindness to actually pick her up to put her down next to her team. I though hearing Shikamaru say it was absolutely not surprising she lost. But maybe Sasuke set up some kind of new record? The good thing too was he didn't display his techniques, he had the element of surprise for the next round.

Let's start the preliminaries then. I turned to my genin, who did not seem to care that much. Except Suigetsu. He was getting excited.

"No killing remember?" I whispered to them, even though I was staring at my youngest student. He deflated in a big sigh, his hands behind his head as a Sound genin and Shino went to fight. I recognized the Sound one as the one Haku fought. His injured arm did look unusable.

Shino was smart though, he wouldn't let that fool him.

* * *

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	26. Chuunin Exams Arc: Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 12**

 **Shisui: 21**

 **Kakashi: 26**

* * *

Shino was smart, and did the good moves to get his opponent down without getting a single scratch in return. It was...not surprising. I looked up to the other names with a bored look in my eyes and kept myself from yawning when Shikamaru's name was written, against someone named Kin. The kunoichi of the Sound jumped down whereas Shikamaru was taking his time walking down the stairs.

When the match started, Shikamaru tried to use his Shadow Imitation but Kin avoided it. Well, the Naras were not known for their powerful ninjutsu they were more on the brain side and strategic win over brute strengh. Kin threw two senbon with bells on it, Shikamaru ducked.

"Heh, that sure is a classic trick." Shikamaru said as he got up. "Next you're going to send two senbon with one bell and I won't see the other one. If I react to the sound, I'll dodge one and the other will hit me. Right?" I mused over it. What Shikamaru explained was a basic strategy, but she was from the Sound. There must be something that the sound of the bell would do. I sparred a glance at my genin, who seemed to be thinking the same. Haku even glanced at me and I read 'Genjutsu?' on his lips. Well, maybe.

"You talk too much!"

She charged at him and mimicked throwing senbon, but the bells behind Shikamaru moved. He turned and was hit by two senbon. She was still a genin after all, using ninja strings was common. Hopefully for him, Shikamaru avoided a critical hit. He removed the weapons from his arm and the bells rang again, making Shikamaru drop on his knees.

"Yep, good observation Haku," I whispered.

"Those who listen to the sound of the bells become like that. This vibration from the sound of this special bell works directly on the eardrum up to the brain." He plugged his ears with his hands. "Useless, you won't block the sound of my bells like that!" She kept speaking and I frowned at Shikamaru. He was a genius, possibly smarter than Itachi if he was really trying. He...even though he was a genin, he would know how to use his Shadow Imitation. Everything physical create shadows, and her strings...Ah, she stopped. Yep, the shadow of her string, as Shikamaru was explaining, was too thick to be natural. Shikamaru then took a shuriken and Kin followed, the latter not understanding what he was planning.

"She's the idiot." I heard Suigetsu muttered on my right. They threw the shuriken and, if Shikamaru dodged it easily, Kin knocked herself out by bumping her head against the wall. Ah, the win is for Shikamaru.

Kin was taken away by medics and Shikamaru went back to his team, where Ino was up. The screen displayed Tenten and Temari's names and I sighed. Right now, it was obvious Temari would win, she was excellent at Wind jutsu. Against Tenten's artillery...There was no surprise when Tenten fell on Temari's fan, unconscious after two minutes of fighting. She threw her as if she was nothing and Lee caught, an angry expression on his face. He went as far as trying to kick her, but she stopped him with her fan.

"Temari that's enough," Gaara's cold voice stopped her from our right. We were at the far left and Oto, or what was left of it, was between us. "Don't waste your time with these two ugly big brows persons." Aouch.

"What!?"

"Don't Lee," Gai-san told his student before casting a confident look at Gaara. "If I were you, I would be cautious of this kid. Maybe he doesn't look like it you, but he's way stronger than he looks like." Temari went back to her brothers and the floor was cleared from all the weapons used during the fights. I looked up at the screen once again and my mouth formed a 'o' at the names.

Kankuro versus Chōjūrō. From what they told me about how their fight happened, Kankuro didn't really participate and Chōjūrō didn't display more than swordsmanship, but getting to Temari was what exhausted him.

"Beat him," Suigetsu snorted at his teammate whereas Haku nodded to him with a small smile. Chōjūrō smiled back and raised his eyes to me. I tilted my head on my shoulder, an encouraging smile on my lips.

"He saw you fight, yes, analyze him, think about what you know about him and make links. You can win this." He pursed his lips at my words and nodded hesitantly. He had chuunin capacities. He had the potential to be Mizukage, because after all I couldn't know if he'd be the Rokudaime now. But still. Mangetsu wouldn't have taken him as an apprentice for his favorite sword if he didn't have talent. He went down to face Kankuro, who was smirking. Humph, overconfidence.

"And start!" Hayate said and jumped back. Hey, now I was thinking about it, there was Gaara, Naruto, Kakashi and Chōjūrō, plus the Hokage in the room. Three Hokage, one Mizukage and one Kazekage. Wow.

Chōjūrō took his storage scroll and summoned his katana, adopting the standard kenjutsu stance of Kirigakure. Like every fighting style in Kiri, be it taijutsu, ninjutsu, even genjutsu, and it was all aimed at killing good and fast. Effectiveness was one of the main thing in the Academy program. Even if I was under private teachers thanks to Yagura, I was taught that as well. Kiri kenjutsu was recognized in the whole world, our most famous group of shinobi was the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist after all. When we had a sword in our hands, strength and quickness but also accuracy were the most important. Against a puppeteer like Kankuro it would come in handy to cut his chakra strings.

Cutting chakra strings was no easy task after all. You had to spot them first and then use your own chakra to overbalance the opponent's.

"Hiding in Mist Technique." Mist was spat from my student's mouth and rose around us, making it impossible for us to see. I focused on Chōjūrō's chakra. It was everywhere in the mist and I sighed. I wasn't going to use my energy for this.

"Come on, we can't see anything!" Naruto hollered in front of us. I was sure Hinata and Neji had their Byakugan activated though.

"Argh!" The mist dissipated a little, enough for us to see Chōjūrō having his blade on Kankuro's throat, ready to draw blood. The mummified puppet he had on his back was further away on the floor. I shot a look at the Suna shinobi, and smirked at Temari's and their sensei's smirk. From the moment there is mist, Chōjūrō would be on the winning side.

"Give up before I draw blood," he said in an icy and threatening voice. Chōjūrō wasn't the most confident person, even if with being on the team he was getting better, but even he knew how to put up the Bloody Mist mask when he had too

"Giving...up?" Kankuro said and turned around suddenly to hug Chōjūrō. Pieces of himself started to fall and a puppet was revealed, its arms tightly secured around him. He made a face from the pain. I looked over at the mummy and saw Kankuro out of it, chakra strings visible between him and his puppet. Huh, it was an easy target now. "Aren't you too...huh?" It was just a blur, but his chakra thread were severed by Chōjūrō and he had a sword on his throat. Even if it was far away, I could see the redness of Kankuro's blood on the blade. Not enough to kill him, yet enough to make him understand he was done. "Wh..."

"I hope this puppet is not too expensive," Chōjūrō droned and from his free hand, made the tiger seal. The water clone the puppet was hugging, made from the mist around, started to glow and exploded, the puppet smashed to pieces. "Even if you get a piece of its weapons, I will be faster, Kankuro-san. Now give up the fight."

"How..."

"From the moment I created mist, you were losing. I found you and separated you from your puppet. I created a water clone from the mist and put an explosive tag on it, and I hid. It was obvious you would substitute yourself with your puppet when I had a sword at your throat, the puppeteers from the Sand aren't known for their taijutsu. I just had to wait until you exposed your tactic on your own," he explained stiffly, and I could see the teenager who had been training under Mangetsu for two years now. With Mangetsu dead in my past life, Chōjūrō's growth took more time. This Exam might have helped him more than I thought.

"I give up," Kankuro declared blandly, eyes full of anger. Chōjūrō looked up at Hayate, who declared him winner, and sealed his sword back. "How did you know I was using a puppet?"

"In the forest you stayed back when our teams met. Suna is famous for its puppets, and you had something big on your back at all time. It was obvious it was your weapon. And..." A shy smile appeared on his lips, "at the end of the First Exam, Morino-san said you used a puppet." There was a long silence and Naruto screamed.

"I FORGOT ABOUT THAT!"

"Pathetic," Gaara commented coldly.

"It's not because the First Exam is over that it's useless," I muttered as they went back, stealing a glance at Ibiki-san. He was smirking.

"No offense, but it was boring," Suigetsu welcomed him in a bored voice. They highfived anyway, and he made Haku do the same. Haku who blushed slightly at Suigetsu's initiative. "Come on, we've been a team for a while man."

"...yes..." came the barely audible answer and I chuckled to myself. In fights or training, he was okay, but when it came to more... _human_ emotion, Haku sometimes still felt a little bit out of it. Talking about him, I grabbed his shoulders and turned him to the screen.

Haruno Sakura versus Haku. Now that was easy fight. It was clear Sakura was stronger than what old Sakura told me about her beginning in Team Seven, Haku also told me of her part in the fight against the Sound, but it was still young Sakura who had not been trained by Tsunade and Kakashi...not that he was a bad sensei, he just...I kinda thought for a moment he was seeing Rin in her, that he was seeing Team Minato in his own team and that he didn't want the same thing to happen to his female student.

Or it was just favoritism. Sakura had not been useful on the bridge. But who was I to judge?

Haku walked at the center of the fighting area calmly, in opposition to Sakura's nervous walk.

"And start!"

"I won't hold back Sakura-san," Haku warned her, already moving a foot backward to prepare his jump.

"Neither will I," she responded, taking a deep breath.

"Sakura-chan! Good luck!" Naruto encouraged her behing. Even if Haku had his back to us, I was sure there was at least the hint of a smile on his face.

He jumped back an threw two senbon at her. She deflected them with a kunai and threw a salve of shuriken to Haku, who dodged them with no problem. He landed on the wall and jumped to her, going fast to strike. Sakura barely stopped his senbon with her kunai and I saw her wince at his strength. Naruto was still encouraging her, and Sasuke was watching with attention. Haku started to use his speed and I could see Sakura having trouble blocking everything, and stepping back a little bit more with each blow.

Close to the wall, she dropped a small object and it looked like a smoke bomb. It barely touched the floor she jumped on the wall to then push herself above Haku and land near our balcony. The bomb exploded and smoke engulfed Haku. He jumped out of it fast, his arm on his nose.

"Soporific gas." I heard him say. Oh? She was cunning our little Sakura! She knew she wouldn't win in pure strength so she used her brain. Too bad Haku knew his stuff when it came to herbs and their proprieties, he must have recognized the smell. In a matter of second, Sakura had a senbon in each of her limbs and collapsed on the floor. Haku went to her and seemed to check if she was the real one. He looked up at the proctor. "I've paralyzed each of her limb, she won't be able to move or make hand seals until I remove the senbon."

Hayate checked on Sakura and declared Haku the winner. As my student was gently removing his needles from her, I couldn't help but admire Zabuza-san for teaching him the technique hunter-nin used. It was useful to know how your opponent fight to run away, thus why after my fifth attempt at fleeing Kiri, Mangetsu told me becoming a hunter-nin would make it easier to leave. It was logical, but I left earlier.

Oh how cute, Naruto _and_ Sasuke went to pick up Sakura.

"The effects will clear up in a couple of minutes." I heard Haku say to the boys before he body-flickered next to us.

"Boring too," Suigetsu muttered, "but two wins out of two for now."

"Be sure to make it three out of three then," I teased him. He sent me a confident grin in return.

The following fight was between Hinata and Neji. I sadly already knew the outcome and clenched my fists in my pockets as Hinata just kept getting up, no matter how many tenketsu Neji was shutting down. Yeah, Naruto's encouragements were sweet and all, but there was a limit that should not be crossed just for an exam. Even if, I knew very well Hinata was trying to proving something to Neji, but first and foremost to herself. However, I couldn't read Neji. He tried to mentally break her at the beginning of the match by saying she shouldn't be a ninja to make her give up, yet these eyes full of hatred he had in my class were burned in my memory.

I grazed the confidentiality mark on my wrist, thin scars around it rough to the touch. I still had all of my researches on the Hyuuga curse mark sealed in my room at mom's. To be honest, I never understood the logic behind sealing the Byakugan of Branch members only. It meant the Main House members could have their eyes stolen if they died.

I mean, _Ao-san_ had a Byakugan in his right eye.

"Hey Uzu..." Suigetsu trailed off as we watched Neji losing it and trying to strike his cousin one last time. Kakashi, Kurenai-san and Gai-san stopped him and Hinata was taken away, pain written on her face. Naruto started a speech too as Neji challenged him. "I would be vulnerable against _that_ taijutsu, right?"

"I think so too. The Hyuuga clan and the Gentle Fist are tough to deal with, they hurt like hell." Even if Mangetsu helped him as much as he could with the Hydrification Technique, there were still times where he was taking a little bit too long. He stayed better at liquefying parts of his body rather than his entire body.

The screen showed Gaara and Dosu. It was fast, Gaara barely moving. He plugged the holes of the metal arm and crushed it with his sand after. It was painfully, yet ridiculously, fast and easy for Gaara. He went up in a body flicker of sand and shot a look at Kankuro, who had a thick bandage around his neck, and Dosu was taken away. Orochimaru, their sensei, left too.

Yeah right get out you old snake, your genin are fucking jokes anyway.

I tried to stretch my legs as discreetly as I could when I heard Naruto yelling in joy. I looked up at the screen. Uzumaki Naruto versus Inuzuka Kiba.

Oh boy.

"Man, I couldn't have had an easier fight!" Kiba bragged and walked down the stairs. Naruto followed him, claiming _he_ was the one who would win.

Even if Naruto responded to Kiba's provocations, that kid would never change apparently, I noticed something in Naruto's behavior. I was pretty sure that when Kiba started his jutsu, Naruto peeked at us. Kiba's nails grew as he took a dog-like position and he charged at my cousin, cousin who didn't see that coming and was sent flying meters away. I frowned at how everyone said he was weak, even Suigetsu said it by my side.

"He's not," Haku retorted calmly, "maybe he looks like it, but you shouldn't let that fool you."

"Hum..." he mused and glanced at me. "Well, he _is_ Uzu's relative so he must have more than one trick up his sleeve I guess."

"Naruto! Get up! Show him what Team Seven is made of!" a moving Sakura yelled from her spot next to Sasuke.

"Stop playing around you dumbass," Sasuke added with a smirk. I glanced at Itachi, who had a flicker of a smile on his lips. When I left, Naruto probably started passing even more time with Sasuke and followed him to his training sessions with Itachi. Knowing him, I was sure he taught Naruto some stuff too.

My cousin got up, blood running down his chin. He raised a determined gaze on Kiba. "Don't underestimate me."

Kiba threw smoke bombs at him and Akamaru and him attacked Naruto, not letting him leave the smoke screen. When it dissipated, Akamaru ran to his master and bit his arm, at everyone's surprise. The puppy turned into Naruto, who looked a little green when he let go of Kiba.

"You taste like a dog 'ttebayo!"

"Where's Akamaru?" A clone of Naruto appeared, holding Akamaru by his front paws. The puppy whined in defeat. "I'll beat you!" Kiba barked at the blond, who grinned in response.

"Yeah right! When I catch you you're done!"

Oh? Akamaru freed himself and went back to Kiba, who gave him a pill. The puppy turned red and the Inuzuka duo became more aggressive, Akamaru turning into an image Kiba. Naruto looked at them and as they ran to him, threw smoke bombs on the floor. The smoke rose in the air and I held my nose, like everyone, at the awful smell in the room. Haku did tell me Sakura seemed to have a lot of medical supplies on her, maybe she made stinky bombs in case, to erase their smells. It was smart of Naruto to think about using them to confuse Kiba.

"It stinks!" he screamed, holding his nose. Overdeveloped sense of smell, too bad for him.

Two clones left the smoke to attack Kiba and Akamaru, but from the corner of my eyes, I spotted an orange blur going for the enormous joined fingers behind the Hokage and other shinobi. A diversion of clones, using Kiba's ignorance of his love for the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

"Wha..." Kiba started as the two clones disappeared. "Where is he!?"

"Idiot!" Naruto yelled, jumping high in the air. He executed a series of hand seals and I almost gaped, before snickering at the Inuzuka. With a proud smirk, I watched my baby cousin finishing the seals by the Bird one. "Fuuton: High Winds Technique!" He mixed his chakra with the air on his sides and he hurled it at Kiba, who was gaping. Like many from Konoha's side. Kiba and Akamaru found themselves pressed against the floor, the wind cutting them enough to make them bleed like Tenten during Temari's match. Talking about her...

"That's at least a C-rank wind jutsu," she stated with a frown on her face, even though she was interested. "I wasn't expecting to find that in Konoha."

I saw Sasuke's, but also Itachi's smirks. Naruto did tell me he almost mastered it when I saw him at mom's, he must have had Itachi helped him even more before the Exams, and Sasuke probably helped too. Naruto started to go down as the smoke was slowly disappearing. I arched a brow when two clones jumped out of it, at everyone's surprise, and knelt at Kiba's and Akamaru's sides. With a toothy grin, they pulled a seal from each of their pouch and placed them on their target.

After some quick hand seals, the clones exclaimed: "Fuinjutsu: Immobility Seal!" Black fuin symbols covered their bodies and Naruto landed between them. He dispelled his clones and with his hands on his hips and a big winner grin, taunted his defeated opponent. "Told ya you'd be done once I catch you Kiba!"

"Inuzuka Kiba is unable to keep fighting. The winner is Uzumaki Naruto."

"YEAH!" Mom trained him in fuinjutsu then. It was beginner's work, and I don't think he would specialized in it, but knowing mom she made him learn the most useful ones, or tried to at least. The Immobility Seal, the one I used in fights myself, was one of her owns after all.

"Naruto-kun, could you remove the seal?" Hayate asked with a cough.

"Ah, I didn't learn that yet!" he admitted sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. Sasuke jumped next to him and punched on the head. "Aouch! Sasuke!"

"You're an idiot," the Uchiha muttered and went to Kiba. He removed the seal easily, with his sharingan activated though, and did the same with Akamaru. "She told you to not use a seal if you can't remove it."

"I didn't know what to do!" I gazed softly at them as they jumped back on the balcony. Sakura scolded Naruto too. 'Show him what Team Seven is made of!" Sakura said huh...Naruto did just that, with that stinky bomb from Sakura, or my technique he mastered with Sasuke's help. Plus, spending so much time around Uchiha geniuses influenced his way of thinking. Itachi and Shisui definitely put their two cents in Naruto's fighting skills.

" **He's grown.** " I heard oji-chan's moved voice in my head.

" _Yeah. Don't you think he looks a lot like Aunty Kushina? She must be celebrating up there._ "

" **She sure is. But he also looks like me you know.** " I could almost hear the pout in his voice. He was trying to cover up the emotion in his voice huh. " **Akane.** "

" _Hum?_ "

" **Maybe it is selfish of me, but thank you for letting me see my son.** " I bit the inside of my cheek. He knew it was selfish, because him seeing his son meant _I_ couldn't see mine, or my daughter. But...it was another life and...I barely remembered their faces. " **I'm sorry, forg...** "

" _No_ ," I interrupted him in my mind, the guilt lingering in his voice squeezing my heart, " _I used a forbidden jutsu I learned to understand what happened to you and never looked into the possible side effects. I had a life and I died, theirs continued on. I...I'm kinda glad to see him at that age too. Even with how messy my life is now, theirs are...it's better, right? I helped avoiding bloodshed and mom's death."_

" **You did. It was brave of you.** "

" _To be fair, I didn't really think about it. I just saw Shisui's face and told him he was going to die. I...I'm sorry for not helping you and Aun..._ "

" **Don't, you didn't choose where your soul would go. Shisui's death symbolized your loss of hope in the shinobi system and our world in general.** "

Was it what it had been?

"Finally!" Suigetsu cried out next to me and I was back to reality. Haku was looking at me strangely and I waved him off. On the screen, Suigetsu was written against Lee. Oh boy, Suigetsu was gonna win hands down.

"Suigetsu, don't show off for nothing, keep some surprises for the Third Exam. Win and come back."

"Yeah, yeah I know."

"As the last fight is opposing Hozūki Suigetsu and Rock Lee, Akimichi Chouji will automatically participate in the Third Exam," Hayate announced as the two genin faced each other, Suigetsu taking one last gulp from his water canteen. "Start."

Lee started to move to Suigetsu, but he dodged and took two scrolls from his pouch. He opened the black one and summoned his katana and put the other one in his mouth to block Lee's Leaf Whirlwind. Hopefully, Suigetsu's skills in swordsmanship were almost as good as Lee's taijutsu, so he could block the blows.

"You're a fierce opponent! I can see the Springtime of Youth in you and your sword!"

"Wha..." Suigetsu caught the scroll falling from his mouth and jumped back. He opened the blue scroll and put a hand on the kanji for water in the middle. Water came out from it and covered the floor. Lee sparred it a look and adopted a defensive pose.

"You blocked all of my attacks with your sword, as expected from a shinobi from Kirigakure, your kenjutsu is unequaled. With water on the floor, you are at an advantage unlike me," Lee stated calmly, simply just analyzing the situation. He shot a quick glance at Gai-san, who nodded. But Suigetsu didn't want any of this and attacked, viciously, as he learned for all of these years. Lee used his speed to dodge and reached the same spot that Naruto earlier. He sat on it and took off the weights under his orange leg warmers. "Alright let's go!" His weights fell, and even if I already expected it, the damages it did to the floor made me open my eyes wide.

Those...crazy taijutsu freaks.

He went back down and Suigetsu barely avoided the blow. He was using the water on the floor to detect Lee's position, even with his speed, but he was having troubles. It wasn't as if Lee would do any damages, but Suigetsu was using this to his advantage. He wanted to know is Lee was really only using taijutsu. From Tenten's and Neji's fight, it was obvious Gai-san's team was specialized in close combat.

Lee managed to touch Suigetsu and by reflex and used his Hydrification Technique. He made it look like a simple water clone though. Just in time before someone realized it wasn't that.

"Where?" Lee looked all around him and I spotted a hand emerging from the water, forming the Water Pistol stand.

"Bushy Brows behind you!" Naruto yelled and Lee avoided a water bullet by a hair. It made a clean hole in the wall.

"If I am touched by that..." Lee said and Suigetsu emerged fully. Suigetsu didn't need an important source of water, he just needed water. However, I wonder how long he will last without drinking with the direction this fight is taking. Lee started to run in a circle around Suigetsu, who was taking the fight seriously from the focused look on his face. It was good he finally learned how to analyze his opponent's capacities before doing anything big, after the many time I scolded him in missions.

"He's fast," Haku whispered as Suigetsu was sent flying in the air. He managed to take many blows without using the Hydrification Technique. At least from outside, he must have had liquefied the inside of his body enough to get minor damages only. Lee wrapped his bandages around Suigetsu and started to spin as they were plunging to the floor. It broke it and Lee jumped back, watching the dust around the my student, exhaustion on his face.

"He's fine though," Chōjūrō stated, his left hand gripping tightly the railing, "when Lee-san was hitting him to get him in the air, there was a second where he stopped. Suigetsu..." As if they had staged this, the dust disappeared and the Suigetsu in the middle of the rubble turned into water and the real Suigetsu appeared behind Lee. He shot him in the shoulder with a threatening smirk on his lips. Lee clutched his bleeding shoulder and put distance between them. He widened his eyes at Suigetsu's state; there wasn't even a scratch on him, at least any new one.

"Hey, if you only use taijutsu then give up. It won't work on me."

"I won't give up! I never will! That's my dream, to show everyone..." He put his arms in front of him in an 'X' shape and rubble around him started floating. I frowned. Was it...

 _'And then Lee-sensei opened the fifth gate and beat all of them!'_ My son told me that once. But he could do it that young?

"Sensei, what is this?" Haku asked me, eyes wider than usual.

"The opening of some of the Eight Gates. They're special tenketsu which control the flow of chakra. They can be opened to surpass the body's limit, but against heavy damages to the body. If you were to open the Eighth Gate, you'll die." Old Gai-san was permanently disabled, but we didn't have a super Naruto around.

"...my way as a ninja!" Lee said as chakra was pouring out around him, his skin red. Suigetsu would be able to handle it, right?

Right?

Lee went up to the Fourth Gate and moved, the floor cracking at the pressure. Suigetsu barely raised his arms that he was kicked in the chin and sent flying. Lee was quickly in front of him and started punching him all over the room. I raised my hand to my cheek and realized my fingers were wet. A drop of water?

Huh, he wasn't hiding it anymore. He couldn't hide it anymore.

I saw Lee opening the Fifth Gate and Suigetsu raised his katana to try to block it, but Lee hit him. He was sent in the floor violently and his katana flew into pieces. I pushed Haku on Chōjūrō and moved on the opposite side to dodge the tip of the blade, which embedded itself in the wall behind us.

"What...oh no!" Lee yelled, his normal state back as he fell on the floor. His eyes were open wide, horror filling them. I followed his stare and noticed Suigetsu. Or more like the top half of Suigetsu, as the bottom was meters away. People started speaking in shock and I sighed.

"He did it anyway," Haku stated blandly as Chōjūrō rubbed his neck with a nervous chuckle.

"That's Suigetsu, if he finds someone interesting to play with in a fight..."

"He's not dead," Gaara rasped on his side, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"What a way to ruin the surprise," Suigetsu _whined_ and Lee moved away from him. He was leaning on his elbow on his side, the bottom of his upper-half like melted. Very fast, the bottom-half of his body was back to its original place. "I was serious when I said you should give up if all you had was taijutsu. Physical attacks don't do shit to me. Too bad for you." He got up and glanced at us. "Sorry for the sword sensei!"

Fucking brat.

"Do you give up now you're in too much pain to fight or do I have to knock you out?" To prove his point, he shot a bullet of water an inch from Lee's foot. Psychological torture, we weren't expert in Kiri but we were taught enough to know when someone was in the mental state to...to be _played_ with. It was exactly what he was doing. The Bloody Mist wasn't just physically violent, the mental was just as important. It was just that a lot of people liked the physical approach more.

"I...I..." Lee stuttered as he got back up on trembling legs. Suigetsu sighed and I frowned. It had been a while since he drank. I was pretty sure he would almost be out.

"Fine then." A water clone formed behind Lee. The clone liquefied his arm around Lee's head, whose first reflex was gasping for air. It was like that for very long seconds until he lost consciousness. The clone dispersed itself in water and Suigetsu looked at Hayate. He coughed.

"Hōzuki Suigetsu is the winner," he declared.

I opened my mouth a little when Lee stood up, once again, his face facing the floor. Suigetsu turned to him with irritated eyes. He started to run to him and Hayate barely had the time to tell him to stop that I was between my student and Lee, my Immobility Seal spreading in a circle from my feet. Suigetsu stopped, a foot in the air behind him, and Lee stopped trembling. I shot a quick look to the latter and frowned when I noticed he was unconscious.

"Suigetsu," I said coldly, the size of the room amplifying the volume of my voice, "the proctor said you won, that's enough. You do know the Mizukage expects me to report all of your actions from you three, no need for me to tell him you can't control yourself."

Suigetsu stared back at me, blood lust dancing in his eyes. He deadpanned at me when he _finally_ got why I was showing one of my techniques. "No need to be so _serious_ , Uzu-sensei." I fought the urge to roll my eyes at him.

"Hayate-san, will he be disqualified for attempting to continue the fight?"

"Well..."

"You stopped him before anything bad could happen, this shall not matter," the Hokage said, voice loud and clear.

"Thank you Hokage-sama," I thanked him and bowed. "I deeply apologize for his behavior."

I stopped the seal and Suigetsu fell forward.

One day, one day, that brat would be the death of me. I wanted to run away from all the stares I was given right now, even if Gai-san ended up going to Lee.

But, Second Exam truly, really over.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :)**

 **Draegan88:** **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like the story :)**

 **YasmineXanime:** **Thanks for the review :)**

 **kankananime123:** **Thank you for the review :)**

 **nevvy: Thanks for the reviews, I'm happy you liked the ItachixAkane moments x) and Team Unagi is the name of Akane's team when he was and still is sometimes under Mei's command, with Mangetsu and Dai, Akane's genin don't have a name :)**

 **Bye !**


	27. Chuunin Exams Arc: Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 12**

 **Shisui: 21**

 **Kakashi: 26**

* * *

"So we're cool huh?" I asked Suigetsu, who just kept staring at me. He snorted and a glint of pain I knew to be fake appeared in his eyes.

"I don't know, it was embarrassing. You really hurt my feelings."

"Oh come on! I had to look 'Bloody Mist' and all!"

"So it's more important than me. I'm even more hurt now." I groaned in frustration because I knew he was doing that on purpose. "I'm sure you won't even cry once the jinchuriki kills me."

"Don't say that!"

"How long has it been now?" I heard Chōjūrō ask Haku.

"Since yesterday, when we came back to the hotel."

I glared at them and they froze. The guts they had those two. Three months ago they wouldn't have talked about me like that. Where did the respect go? I was the sensei, they were supposed to respect me!

"Fine, let's talk about your matches then. Suigetsu, you're against Gaara on the first round."

"I give up and keep my strengths for the invasion." At that point, we all agreed Gaara, being the jinchuriki he was, would be like a signal. The longer he will take to give it, the better it is to prepare.

"Haku."

"My opponent is Sasuke-kun. I fight him normally but if I have to use too much to beat him, I give up and keep my energy as well. If possible, I try to let him know of the situation." I nodded and looked at Chōjūrō.

"I am fighting Akimichi Chouji. The plan is the same as Haku, except it's useless to tell him about the attack."

"Nice." Naruto and Neji would go at it first, then Chouji and Chōjūrō, followed by Haku and Sasuke, Gaara and Suigetsu, Shikamaru and Temari. Shino was left out on the first round and would fight Temari or Shikamaru depending on the winner of their match. "Here is what we're gonna do for the next three weeks. We have time, your fights are in a month. So training for three weeks, we'll see for the fourth one. The Hokage reserved training grounds for the foreign teams. I'll personally take care of one of you for a week, the other two will have a clone. We'll switch each weeks. If they intend to release a jinchuriki, I want you to be ready. Understood?"

"Yeah..." they trailed off in sync. I frowned at them.

"Hey, want me to go full Yagura on you?" I asked darkly and I smirked at their paling faces. "Yeah, that's what I thought too."

Truth be told, we had the training ground for three weeks and a half. It was not within the village's walls, and I was even surprised to see the Uchiha emblem on one of the stone surrounding the training ground. It was not far from the village, we could still see it in the distance. I also could feel Itachi's presence lurking around.

Looking around, I surprised myself wanting mist with us. I wasn't used to fight or train in a clear area like this one, where I could hardly hide with the natural environment. We were in a clearing in the forest, green trees all around us and a large lake was behind us. I stopped and turned to my students.

"I'll start with Haku, then Chōjūrō, and Suigetsu."

"Why am I last!?"

"Because. They will actually fight, they'll need more rest. With my clones, training will be calmer because they'd pop at any physical attack."

"I guess it makes sense..." Suigetsu muttered. I rolled my eyes and put my fingers in a cross seal, two clones popping into existence on each side of me. They took Suigetsu and Chōjūrō and went in opposite directions, leaving me with Haku, who seemed a lot more eager to learn than this morning. Suigetsu was a bad influence, I knew it.

"So, the jutsu Naruto used yesterday? I'm gonna teach it to you."

"I knew I knew it," he replied with a smile. I rolled my eyes and motioned to him to get closer.

I turned to face a tree and executed the hand seals. "Fuuton: High Winds Technique." Violent wind flew extremely fast next to me, cutting clean ten of the trees in front of me. I had gotten better at that, I was proud. "Horse, Snake, Tiger, Hare and Bird. Do you want me to explain or try on your own first?"

"I'll try." I nodded and moved aside. I sat against a tree and watched him go through the seals slowly with his two hands. I felt the way he expanded his chakra on each side of him and mixed it with the air, but it didn't last and he plunged on the ground when it was let loose. He got back up with a thoughtful frown on his face. "It's not C-rank," he stated with a pointed look at me. I shrugged with a playful smirk.

"I never said Temari was right. It's a B-rank and a half. You need to control your chakra perfectly to control the air around you and then accelerate it to make it powerful. Wind chakra is the hardest to control. This technique is essentially very small wind blades at very high speed. Grab a leaf and cut it with your chakra."

"Naruto-kun made it look easy." I swore he was pouting as he grabbed a bunch of leaves in the tree.

"I showed it to him when he was younger, he must have been training for the past two years. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't really know how he does it. Honestly, the chakra control fuinjutsu gave me really helped for this technique, but I'm sure you can do it. You're a genius after all." I jumped on a tree branch and took my _Icha_ _Icha_ to read it. I was pulling out a lot of Kakashis on them. Basically, tell them how to do something and read until they succeed or ask for help.

A shinobi had to know how and when to ask for help after all.

Okay, let's go for three weeks of training then.

It was relatively calm actually. Haku did manage to get his chakra under control. The technique was weak, but it was there. He truly was a genius. For Chōjūrō, I mainly focused on water jutsu and his speed.

"Come on, you just have to pour chakra in the scroll and the seal will do the rest. The dose of chakra will indicate the dose of water you'll seal." He nodded and opened the scroll in the grass. His chakra went to the lake and drained water from it, sealing it in the scroll. "See, you can make storage seals too. I knew it would be useful to teach that to you guys." I went to the water and Chōjūrō followed me silently. "I know it might not be useful for the Exam, but getting the control for this technique can only be good for you. It's complicated and required a lot of chakra though, I mastered it not long before I became your sensei." I jumped away from him and he did the same. I clapped my hand together, my chakra going in the water at high speed. "Suiton: Water Shockwave!"

A big wave of water rose in front of him and went straight for Chōjūrō. He jumped on his right and I smirked. It was a jutsu created by the Nidaime Hokage. An enemy moving would not be a problem for him. I moved my hand to where my student was and the water followed. He widened his eyes and kept trying dodging, with no success. As the wave was going to reach him, I canceled the jutsu. He was panting heavily.

"See?"

"Ye...Yes..." he stuttered.

"Once you catch your breath once again, we'll-"

"Impressive! Wonderful!" a deep masculine voice said. I twitched at the voice and slowly turned around. My eyes got wide as saucers at the long-haired man in front of me, the white of his hair flashing against the red of his clothes. On his forehead was a forehead protector, but not from Konoha. The kanji for 'Oil' was carved in it. "What an impressive mastery of Water Jutsu at such a young age!"

"Jiraya-san?" I mumbled and Chōjūrō gaped next to me. Before I knew it, Haku and Suigetsu were on the lake with us. "What..."

"Still the wrong honorific, but I'm willing to forgive a cute young woman like you Akane-chan. I can't resent a fellow Seal Master for too long, especially the one who beat the Fourth Hokage's record!

"Heh, is it really that impressive?" Naruto asked next to him, and I finally noticed him. When his eyes went back on me, I cringed at the absolute adoration in them. There were literal stars in them. Haku told me of his slip of tongue but still.

"Using seals to fight requires a completely different level than just making them." Now Naruto was _beaming_. Crap. I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Jiraya-san, how can I help you? I'm busy training my team."

"Oh but so am I, so am I. Apparently Naruto knows one of them and they had quite the adventure with his girlfriend in the Forest of Death. Let them play together."

"Bu..how did you even find me? Don't tell me you toad-tracked me!" He burst into laughter and draped his arm on my shoulders, dragging me with him.

"Hey perverted hermit, what are you gonna do to her!?" Naruto asked as he went in front of us.

"Grown up talk kid, try to summon a frog with legs for now." Jiraya moved past him and Haku actually kept him from going after us. I peeked at them over my shoulder and made them understand to keep training. Itachi was around anyway, so it was okay. And Seal Masters were not linked to any village in general, they were free to help people they wanted to help. It was okay to have a talk with the pervert.

Perfectly okay.

He actually dragged me in Konoha and sat me down on top of the Kage mountain. I looked up at Jiraya-san, who was looking at the village.

"You know, I'll probably take you to Sarutobi-sensei before the Third Exam. I wasn't even planning on letting him know I was there but your presence changes everything."

"I'm...sorry?" I couldn't figure out what he wanted.

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Let's get down to business, I've already told the news to Akiko." Right...mom met the Sannin when they were not Sannin yet in Uzushio during or before the Second Shinobi War. "I have news on the Akatsuki, mostly about who filled Itachi's position."

"Is it someone strong? Logically, they should have recruited someone of Itachi's level."

"They did," he confirmed with a somber expression, his eyes looking as if they were seeing past events for a second time, "he is the one shinobi who ever gave Minato serious troubles and injured him badly."

"Who?" He glanced at me with grave eyes and I widened my eyes, my fists clenching instinctively on my pants. "He reappeared?"

"Uzumaki Ushio is Hoshigaki Kisame 's partner. I don't know why he would join them, but it seems he recovered from the fight. Minato didn't tell me the full extent of what he did to defeat him, only that Kushina and him sealed him away in the Eien Hansen in a Space-Time jutsu. Or he broke free on his own, which he could have done, or someone in the Akatsuki freed him. In any case, I went to Uzushio once I discovered he was a part of the Akatsuki, and the portal to Eien was opened. I sealed it close again, but nothing Ushio wouldn't be able to break," he explained to me gravely. My heart was beating too fast in my chest, so fast it was hurting me. I clenched my flak jacket when I started having difficulties breathing. Cold sweat was rolling down my back and I knew Jiraya-san was calling me, but I couldn't hear him. Two warm arms engulfed me in a hug from behind.

"Honey, honey I'm here, he's not here. You're in Konoha and he's not here," Mom's voice whispered in my ear. She affectionately rubbed my arms while whispering comforting words in my ear.

"He...He...Naruto, he'll take care of Naruto personally, he will...he will...Naruto won't stand a chance he...the Hokage...Inoichi-san knows, I told him in therapy what hap..."

"We know honey, we know, Jiraya-san has already told the Hokage. Take deep breaths Akane, you have to breath." I tried to do as she was saying, focusing only on her voice and not the absolute fear that was taking over my whole body.

I calmed down after fifteen minutes where I was totally freaking out. Dad...dad was a potential Fourth Mizukage, against Yagura only. He fought oji-chan and really hurt him, physically and mentally. He was a part of the reason why people in Kiri were so scared of me, with me being the Fourth's apprentice. He killed my brother! He killed his own son and he tried to kill me, his daughter! He was going to come and kill us all and we wouldn't...we wouldn't...

"Akane." I looked up at Jiraya-san. "When I was in Uzushio, I found things about the Shinigami Seal. Mainly, the seal works a lot like the one of a jinchuriki. You potentially can communicate with the souls sealed inside the Shinigami because you're its container, its representative in a way. I know you are a talented and capable kunoichi, but have you had a... _personal_ tutor?"

"Jiraya-san you don't mean-" Mom started but I cut her off in a small voice.

"Oji-chan made me agree to the 'no sex' rule because he feels and sees everything I see and feel. We managed to understand how to cut off the connection though. He...he's been helping me."

There was a short silence where mom hugged me tighter as Jiraya-san closed his eyes with a small sad smile on his lips. "I see, of course Minato would do something if he could, even dead," he murmured softly. "Well, physically dead. His soul is living in you, literally."

"I...yes. He'll...he'll tell me the details of what happened in Eien later, when I'm mentally able to process what he's saying. Just, don't say he's here to anyone?

"I did tell you we were speaking as Seal Masters, didn't I? Akiko is the same, shinobi village can't make us spill what is said between Seal Masters!" Jiraya-san reassured me with confidence. "Now we should go back to the lake, hopefully Naruto finally managed to summon a frog!"

Mom went with us. Even if my face was saying I was perfectly fine, it seemed my students saw right through it. Naruto was just wondering why mom was there.

"That's my team," I told her as we reached them on the shore, "they're good."

"I see," she answered and quirked her brows at Suigetsu, "he looks like a baby you used to have play dates with. Mangetsu I think?" I almost choked on my saliva and Suigetsu gaped so much his jaw almost touched the ground. "There was also Mei-chan's brother, he was so cute," she continued, oblivious of me almost tripping in shock. Play dates with Mangetsu _and_ Dai? Mei-sensei never thought about mentioning it like _ever_?

"Nee-chan, why do you look shocked?" Naruto asked me with confusion.

"They were my team when I was genin," I told them in a low voice. " _Mei-sensei_ never mentioned anything. Did she?" I looked at Suigetsu for confirmation and he shook his head in negation. Good, we were on the same page.

* * *

It turned out my students were exploiting me. They would rather work with a clone and send the real me to buy them food. If Ao-san was here, he would tell them how different it was in his old days. I wonder how it was at the hideout. I did send a message about Orochimaru to the Mizukage after the preliminary fights, or more like the Hokage wrote a message and I signed with my chakra to prove it was indeed from me.

I think he will send reinforcement. It was not just suppositions now, Orochimaru showed himself and will attack. Yagura wouldn't miss his chance to destroy Orochimaru, or at least a good portion of his lovely village. I mean, the snake pissed off the Hidden Mist _and_ the Akatsuki.

I shivered when I thought of the organization. I was used to Itachi in the red and black cloak. Now I was replacing him by my father and it just...it terrified me.

I was just done buying them food when Itachi appeared in front of me, civilian clothes on. I raised a brow at him, the pick of my last takoyaki still between my lips.

"Want something from me?"

"Shisui is back." I froze at that and my eyes scanned the area by reflex. However, he motioned me to follow him back to my students. "He doesn't know yet. The Hokage wants me to tell him and I thought I would tell you before," he informed me dully. He sounded like a guy in the middle of a depression.

"Thanks," I said. I totally, completely, had forgotten about Uchiha Shisui. I was busy thinking about other things and well, the fact he was not in the village slipped out of my mind. "Would you keep him away for me please?"

"I can keep him from talking to you," he replied as we left the village, "but I can't keep him from seeing you."

"Stalking. The right term is 'stalking'."

"Hn." An awkward silence took place between us. I squinted and stared at his back. There was something else, there had to be. "He is seeing someone too," he finally whispered.

"Good for him," I answered, not really caring about it. Well, he moved on so it was good for him, as I was living in Kiri anyway, and didn't want anything to do with boys, or romance really. Too annoying, it asked too much energy, energy I could put in more interesting tasks than dates and being careful of your other half. I was not good in love relationships in the past, and I still ain't today. Being in Kiri asked a certain bluntness out of you I had never shaken off. Never tried to either.

"You're...you're okay with it?" Itachi asked softly, peeking at me over his shoulder. "Didn't you and Shisui have like...a thing?" I stopped and deadpanned at him. He returned my stare.

"Is that what he told you?"

"No, it's just..."

"He confessed just before I left," I informed him and he furrowed his brows, "and kissed me, but that's all. I didn't return his feelings. I couldn't really return them, even if I had wanted to. Wait, you thought I had feelings for him all along?" I asked him and my pick fell from my mouth.

"It's just...you two were close..." he murmured, almost in a defense way as a light embarrassed blush spread on his cheeks. He tried to hide them with his high collar but failed miserably. A chuckle escaped me and Itachi just tried to hide his burning cheeks harder.

"You're fucking hilarious Uchiha, you know that?" I asked rhetorically and started walking again. "Man, that was the funniest thing I heard in a while."

"Akane..." he grumbled under his breath, exasperation lingering through his voice, "you're the worst."

"I take that as a compliment. I need to stand up for myself sometimes, Chief Dwarf's reputation is like glued to me."

"Chief...Dwarf?" he repeated slowly with a dumbfounded face. "You mean the Mizukage? You call him that?"

"Me and my friends yeah. What, you saw him, he's not exactly on the tall side. Just don't tell him though, he's very hung up about it and throws tantrum when someone mentions his short height." Oh, Itachi was absolutely livid.

"Tell me you didn't call him that to his face."

"Always behind his back!" I stated with a proud smile and he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"How...how are you still..."

"I've seen and endure the worst he can do, I'm immune by now." There was a pregnant pause between us. Oops, too much information? Yeah, yeah I had to shut up, we weren't on the same side for now. He was not my friend but Itachi of the Sharingan, the guy for whom, in my Bingo Book, was written in big bold bright red letters 'TO AVOID' next to his picture. I cleared my throat. "Anyway, I have work."

"Of course Uzumaki-san."

Thank to whoever up there who gave Itachi the ability to understand the situation and my hidden messages with no trouble. Wait, if he understood all of my hidden messages it would be troublesome.

What a fucking drag.

When I was with my students, I barely had a 'thank you', even from Haku. They were animals, all of them. Men were horrible, horrible creatures who though only with their stomach, when it wasn't their dick.

On the last day of taking care of Chōjūrō, I felt Itachi around, like usual because we were his mission, but also another one. It was closer and the person clearly didn't care about me sensing him or not. So I took one of my regular kunai and threw it after fighting seriously against Chōjūrō.

"Sensei?" he inquired and looked at where I threw the weapon. "Does the anbu bother you now?"

"No, it's an unexpected and annoying presence, not the anbu." Itachi went where I threw my kunai and I felt them move a little. Strictly speaking, I wasn't a sensor. I was an Uzumaki though, and we had a special relation with chakra, we learned how to sense other people, other chakra, more easily than regular people. _And_ Naoto-senpai taught me a lot _and_ he was one of the best sensor in Kiri. You bet the son of the Mizukage would be one of the best in something. Oh, I kinda missed him. Naoto-senpai was like my Kakashi in Kiri, minus the porn book, that was my thing. "Chōjūrō, I think it's enough for today and this week. Starting tomorrow, I want you to train your speed between releasing the water from the scroll and using said water. For us, making the field our playground is essential and requires a lot less chakra than producing water ourselves. Now, I'm gonna deal with the new presence." I body flickered on the shore and took a deep breath.

I could do that. I hadn't seen Shisui in two years but I managed with Itachi, right? Well, there was the hug and I was a mess, but it was because he said things. Shisui...I could manage Shisui. He had someone, so it wouldn't be awkward. Yeah, no awkwardness, I mean, it's Shisui, it's gonna be okay. I need to slip back into my Bloody Mist persona and everything will be perfect and he won't bother me until the end of the Exams.

"She doesn't want you to watch her train her team Shisui, you can understand!" Itachi sounded exasperated. So he could express anger? That was new. But it looked like they actually talked about that before already.

"I just want to see her! I didn't think she would sense me!" I froze in my steps at Shisui's voice. Fuck, his voice was...I don't know how to describe it but it was just full of emotions. "I need to make sure she's fine physically _and_ mentally! Don't you want to know that too? You've been a mess for the past two years!" I...didn't know that.

"She's fine, and even if she wasn't we wouldn't be able to help. _She's not Konoha._ " Itachi stressed the last sentence through gritted teeth. I had never heard him speak like that, so...free with his negative emotions. "I think you're the last person who should see her, Kiri hates you."

"That's definitely true," I said out loud as I picked up my kunai. They both shut up and I felt their heavy gaze on me. "Oh, did I say that aloud? Please continue bickering, I have trainings to supervise." I walked away to where Haku was. I didn't spare them a glance. It wasn't because I was a wonderful actress but more because I was too much of a coward to-

"Akane!" Shisui yelled behind me and his quick steps stopped in front of me. The top of my head was reaching his eyes now. I raised a bored and cold gaze on his face. He didn't change. Maybe slightly deeper lines on his face but nothing next to Itachi's actually.

"That would be my name indeed." He seemed taken back by my reply but moved on pretty fast. He opened his mouth to say something but his onyx eyes looked at the symbol on my hitai-ate. He clenched his fists. "May I help you with anything Uchiha-san?"

"Don't call me that," he whispered, his eyes meeting mine once again. "Please don't call me that."

"It would only be fair, we haven't been officially introduced. I'm Uzumaki Akane, the Yondaime Mizukage's apprentice. I heard a lot abo-"

"Did they brainwash you now!?" he snapped and grabbed my shoulders. Itachi tensed behind us. "What kind of things did Kiri put in your head!? What did they do to you!?" Shisui was losing his calm and it wasn't normal. He was talking about Kiri in a way that was ticking me off. I frowned deeply and slapped his hands away from me.

"Watch your mouth. You don't know my village nor its people, so don't run your mouth like that. Kiri and Konoha had bad blood between them, I'm here in peace but I won't hesitate to report to the Hokage if one of his shinobi starts speaking ill of another village." He frowned deeply too and cold anger washed over his face.

"Is that a threat?"

"Merely an observation. My team and I are already under ANBU's surveillance and we didn't cause troubles until now, I would like to keep it this way."

"Of course," Shisui replied coldly, but with a tint of irony in his voice. I decided to let it slide. I nodded and body flickered to where Haku was. Chōjūrō had joined him and they were both looking at me with concern. I sighed deeply and dropped on my knees.

"That's what Dai-san said about being careful with her head," Haku whispered and knelt next to me. I shot him a glance.

"Tell me I'm important, that people in Kiri need me more than the people here."

"You know you are Uzu-sensei," he said gently, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"Senpai and Dai-san were heartbroken at your funerals, Mei-san too. We don't just see you as Yagura's apprentice," Chōjūrō added with a smile.

"Yeah it's...it's changing, right?"

Yeah, it was changing, I knew it. I just needed to hear it from someone else to convince me the broken look in Shisui's eyes was worth it, was worth the cause. I didn't want to hurt him, or Itachi, or anyone. If they could not care it would be better, I was used to losing people I cared about anyway. It wouldn't be new. I had too much things to care about to care about what people thought of me, and yet right now it was all I could think about.

Yagura, Obito, whatever, were assholes. It was psychological torture to test where my loyalty lay.

Too bad for them, it lay with Mei-sensei and the Resistance.

That was what I need to keep in mind. Get rid of Obito, get rid of the current system and have a fair one.

For our little Utopia.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :)**

 **Bella-swan11:** **Thanks for the review :) Itachi will know about Akane in the future, but Shisui won't betray her trust like that :). I mean, Itachi is Itachi, the guy is bound to know it sooner or later!**

 **Bye !**


	28. Chuunin Exams Arc: Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 12/13**

 **Shisui: 21**

 **Kakashi: 26**

* * *

"Hell no!" Suigetsu barked, grabbing my arm to keep me from moving. "No way you're leaving in the middle of training Uzu! Konoha-softies can su-" He never finished his sentence as I kicked him in the head, said head bursting in water. I sent an apologetic look at Ko, who didn't let anything show on his face.

"Suigetsu, they're not asking me to come as a kunoichi from Kiri. Remember those scars?" I replied and showed him the chakra burns I had on my wrist. "That's because I'm a Seal Master. I still have responsibilities toward the clans who hired me."

"But...but training!" he wailed and moved his arms around.

"You already know what to work on." A small smile appeared at the corner of my lips. I cut my left thumb and put my hand in the grass. "Summoning Jutsu!" A puff of smoke poofed into existence to reveal a light gray wolf with his eyes closed. On his four paws he reached my shoulders. He pushed his muzzle in my cheek. "Hey Seihitsu, do you mind taking care of Suigetsu's training for a while? I have business to attend to."

"Of course not Akane," he replied in his usual quiet voice. Seihitsu was my go-to summon in fights. Even if he was blind, he was a great sensor and an awesome partner. Gaku didn't really obey me anyway, I wasn't mom and he loved to remind it to me. I summoned my katana and put the handle between his teeth. A quick glance at Suigetsu and I felt proud of myself. Suigetsu was scared of my wolf friend, like he always has been since they met. I waved at him and followed Ko.

"So, why does Hyuuga-sama wants to see me? Is it about Hinata?"

"You saw her match between her and Neji, didn't you?" he asked me with a concerned frown. I nodded. Neji was...filled with such hatred... "Well, she had been in the hospital ever since, but she wants to leave. Hiashi-sama doesn't want her to. They thought you might be able to do something."

"I'm not a medic," I deadpanned at him. He shot me an exasperated look, that I returned for a few seconds. I averted my eyes first. "But I've been playing with medical seals since I was a genin."

"Please refrain to use the term 'playing' when it comes to Hinata-sama's health."

"Of course, my bad."

"Is that okay though?" I tilted my head on my shoulder and blinked. "With you being a kunoichi from Kiri and the still tensed situation. You are the face of your village and..."

"Ko, if you don't stop showing how _worry_ you are," I purred with an amused smirk, "I'm gonna cry."

"You're still as annoying as before," he grumbled under his breath and I chuckled. I patted his shoulder and he turned his lilac eyes back to me.

"I appreciate it, be sure of that. But Seal Masters don't automatically pledge allegiance to Hidden Villages. I've never worked directly for Konoha except for teaching. My help is toward the clans I have a confidentiality seal with, and the shinobi part of my life can't interfere. Yagura can try, but he knows when it comes to this, he can't do anything to stop me and can't keep me from doing it because he would look bad. You get what I mean?"

"Yes. That's...reassuring to know you haven't changed that much." I raised a brow and he cleared his throat. "Hinata-sama was surprised to see you with the genin from Kiri and said there was nothing from the old you in your eyes."

"Oh." Hinata was quite perceptive. We walked in silence to the Hyuuga compound and I took my forehead protector off. I was going as a Seal Master, no reason to show I was also Kiri. I followed my Hyuuga friend on a path I used to walk often. Once we were in front of a sliding door, he knocked.

"Hiashi-sama, I have brought her."

"Come in." I walked in and Ko stayed in the hallway. I bowed to Hiashi-san and sat in front of the cup of tea which seemed to be waiting for me. Huh, Oolong tea, my favorite. Good to know they remembered the one selfish request I made when they hired me; having Oolong tea. "It has been a while, Sasaki-san."

"It has, Hyuuga-sama. I understand you required my help?" I replied, taking a sip of my tea. He nodded severely, cold eyes looking right through me. "For Hinata?"

"Yes. As you have seen, my nephew hurt her badly. She insists on leaving the hospital but even if she seems fine, our doctor thinks she could suffer a relapse under some particular circumstances, one of them being a trigger. I am afraid Hinata watching the match between Neji and Uzumaki Naruto might hurt her," he explains and I bit my lips, deep in thoughts.

"I could make a seal with healing chakra in it that would automatically heal her if there is a relapse."

"It would be ideal. How long would it take?"

"Not long. I would need your doctor and Hinata."

I soon found myself in Hinata's hospital room, with Ko and the doctor. She widened her eyes when she saw me and I smiled at her.

"Your father asked me to help."

I took a chair from the corner of the room and put it close to the night stand. I placed my back pouch on my laps and browsed in it. My ink and brush were quickly pulled out of the pouch and on the nightstand and I looked at each seal paper I had. I looked up at the doctor, who was eyeing me suspiciously, and showed him the papers.

"You know the nature of the injury, which size would engulf it perfectly?" He looked at me clearly startled by my question and pointed at the one almost the size of my hand. "Thanks." I opened my ink bottle and with strokes I knew by heart, drew a healing seal. "If you say she could suffer a relapse, then you know what kind it would be and how to treat it, right?" He nodded. I placed the seal on the palm of my left hand and extended it to him. I made the tiger seal with my right hand and the seal glowed green. "Please, pretend the seal is Hinata's injury. It will seal the jutsu and I will seal it in Hinata next." He did as told, and I proceeded to roll Hinata's shirt up.

The doctor showed me where the injury was precisely, her heart, and the symptom she could have. The tenketsu around her heart had been almost all closed, and even if they were working now there were still damages. Too much emotion could trigger her heart to beat a little bit too fast and relapse happen. I placed the paper on the injury and took my brush. A symbol for the activation in case the symptoms happen, another one for said symptoms, one for sealing foreign chakra in the seal, one for transferring the paper seal to the body seal, and finally a circle for the layer of protection against her heart, with a final symbol for her chakra to be that layer. I put my brush away and let the ink on Hinata's body dry.

"As the seal is linked to your heart, I have to create a layer of protection to keep it from burning your heart. I made it so that you chakra feeds the layer. The seal I drew is a rehabilitation seal. It will heal you if you have a relapse, however because the layer is made from your chakra you should not use too much of it and fight. Your Byakugan should be okay but reasonably." I explained with a serious face. "It's for one use only, it will dissipate if you use it and I will personally make a reverse seal and give it to your father. However, you need to promise me not to overuse your chakra. If the layer is not thick enough, your heart will suffer from chakra burns. Understood?" She nodded slowly, processing the information I just gave her. I turned my eyes to the doctor, who wrote down everything.

"We will make sure Hinata-sama follows all of the instructions."

"Fine." I made some hand seals and put my right hand on the paper. "Fuinjutsu: Seal Transfer." The black ink glowed green and went through the paper. Hinata winced a little and I shot her an apologetic smile. Once the glow disappeared, I took the blank paper and threw it in the bin. Useless now, there would always be chakra residues on it. I gazed at my seal to check. '治り', the kanji for 'recovery' was at the center. "I will do the reverse seal now and give it to Hyuuga-sama later, but now you have your first tatoo Hinata, congrats!" She chuckled softly. A peaceful feeling engulfed me. The one I felt when I was teaching Hinata before, and Ko was watching. It was just...peaceful, and it was nice. Once the seal was done, I looked up at Ko as it was drying. "Hey, thanks for asking for me." _Even if I'm not on Konoha's good side. Even if I hurt Shisui and maybe Itachi already, like the kids._

"You're welcome," he answered with a small smile. I widened my eyes and looked at Hinata, my finger pointed toward Ko.

"He smiled at me, you see that!?" An offended snarl was heard, but I didn't care. Hinata chuckled once again and I could feel Ko feeling betrayed behind me.

"Hinata-sama!"

"You did Ko, you can't deny it."

I stuck my tongue at him and he glared. Yep, just like the good old times. I could here, with Ko, because he wouldn't try to stick his nose in my business. And they asked for the Seal Master, not the kunoichi like Itachi and Shisui. I could be myself, in these conditions.

I left the room once the reverse seal was done and stopped at a window in the hallway. Lee was working out outside, still in his hospital blouse. There was training and there was obsession. Suigetsu put him in that state though, even if Lee was stronger than Suigetsu I think. Even Suigetsu said he was overwhelmed and that in term of power, he was under Lee's level.

It was just a very unlucky for Lee to fight Suigetsu.

That was the reason I ended up next to him. He stopped in his push-ups when my shadow towered him.

"You do know training a wounded body has the reversed effects. You're hurting yourself more than you grow stronger."

"I don't have time to waste," he grumbled between clenched teeth. I stared down at the kid in front of me. Once upon a time, it was a man I had no trouble trusting my children's safety to.

"Still, if you don't let your body have the time to heal properly, you'll be wasting your time for the rest of your life," I told him sharply. "If you want that youth thing Gai-san and you always talk about to continue in the future, then make sure to pass it to the next generation one day." I body flickered away. Lee would only grow stronger, I knew that, but seeing him so frustrated over a defeat was annoying.

* * *

"I didn't do anything I swear. Oh no, is it because of Shisui?" Itachi didn't even spare me a glance as we continued walking to the Hokage Tower. We had a week until the Exam. Oh, now I was thinking about it, didn't Jiraya-san told me I would see him and the Hokage? Crap, what could they want from me?

As I was thinking, I found myself in front of the Hokage for the second time in a month and Jiraya-san was leaning against the wall with crossed arms. I glanced in Itachi's direction for a brief second and it was enough for me to catch his eyes looking at me, wondering why Jiraya-san was there too. I shrugged. I didn't know either.

"Itachi-kun, please leave now." Itachi bowed and left quickly. I looked at the two men in front of me with puzzled eyes. "I heard about your...discussion with Shisui-kun." I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly.

"I tried to keep him away, he was just..."

"Worried about what you went through once again in Kiri. But it is not my place to tell you."

"Why am I here exactly?" I asked in confusion.

"I was wondering, Akane-kun, what will you do once the coup in Kiri happen?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"You have been brought in Kiri by force when you were barely eleven and you went back to the shinobi life two years ago because the Mizukage was putting pressure on Konoha. Once everything is over, what will you do?"

"Help...the Fifth Mizukage?" I replied, unsure of where this was going. "I don't understand...what I do after is none of your concern, is it?"

"It depends actually," Jiraya-san pipped up, "Minato placed you in his will, saying he would like for you to serve in Konoha. If the Fourth Mizukage is deposed and the Fifth sticks to their words about changing the village, then the law that made you a kunoichi over there will be annulled and your duty to Kirigakure won't exist anymore." I blinked at him and slowly turned my gaze to the Hokage.

"And if I don't have any duty to my village anymore, then the Hokage's will could be used. If..."

"If you wanted to be a kunoichi of the Leaf then we wouldn't be able to say 'no', be it me, my successor, the council or the Elders. Minato made sure of that," the Hokage finished for me. My eyes fell on what was on the desk. A brand new forehead protector, with the Leaf symbol carved in the metal. I took a step forward and grazed the metal with the tip of my fingers. A kunoichi here? Alongside Naruto, Itachi, Shisui, Sasuke and Kakashi? A picture of me wearing that green flak jacket instead of my usual gray one appeared in my head. Konoha was a good village, I knew it, but I was trained in Kiri. There would...I would always be lonely deep down with how drastically different the moral was in these two places.

I took a step back, my eyes focused on the floor. "I'm sorry, but I don't think it would be wise for me to accept this. I'm not even sure if I'll make it out alive."

"Well, the offer will still stand in the future," the Hokage actually sighed and he took the hitai-ate to put it in a drawer of his desk. I shot a quick glance at Jiraya-san, who was looking at his sensei with eyes that said 'I-told-you-so'.

"Jiraya-san, I thought you were still training Naruto?"

"Oh, he's in the hospital since this morning. Chakra exhaustion." Even with Kurama's chakra? Wow. He was training on the Summoning Technique, wasn't he? Who did he manage to summon? Gamakichi was small right now I think.

"Hokage-sama." An anbu appeared in the room, a scroll in hand. "We have just received words from the Mizukage. However, the seal seemed to be programmed so that only Uzumaki Akane can open it." The scroll ended up in my hand and I unsealed it quickly. My eyes scanned Yagura's hand writing meticulously.

"He won't come but he's sending reinforcement."

"Reinforcement?" Jiraya-san repeated with a quirked brow.

"I...I don't know either. I mean, if he really wants us to beat Oto, it would be logical of him to send people I work well with and oh god I know who they are. It will be the first time you have so much Swordsmen in your village Hokage-sama. Oh gosh Yagura is really pissed at Orochimaru." They watched me pacing in front of them, mumbling things to myself.

Mangetsu and Dai were coming. Shit was about to get real. We never failed a mission together.

Of course, when I told him, Suigetsu was half ecstatic, half scared his big brother would come. He was supposed to give up his first match after all. However, when everyone was asleep, I stared at the ceiling. I was proposed to join Konoha shinobi. It wasn't just something I could not think about but...

" **Come here, now,** " Minato's voice said in my head. I kept myself from sighing and closed my eyes, chakra pooling in my seal. When I opened my eyes, oji-chan was looking severely at me, his arms crossed over his chest. I peeked above his shoulder, spotting a light yellow armchair and scrolls on the floor.

"Getting cosy in my seal I see."

"I figured I could make some arrangements and really work from here," he explained with a shrug of his shoulders. We stared at each other and he sighed before going back in his chair, motioning me to do the same. A burgundy chair appeared out of nowhere. "You get used to it." I nodded and sat silently. "You have time to think about Sandaime's proposition you know, you don't have to be concerned about it for now."

"Sensei said she would start the attacks once the Exams are over, it's a matter of months until the coup happen," I replied blandly. My eyes went wide as that particular piece of information fully reached my brain. "Shit, it's just a few months before the coup oji-chan."

"Hey, you trust Mei-san, don't you?" I nodded slowly and his smile reassured me a little. "Then you know she won't attack until you're all ready. Even if I don't like the part you are playing as a spy, you are doing a good job at balancing the two, but mostly at asking your teammates for help concerning your mental health."

"You kept bugging me about it," I muttered. He was right though, Mangetsu and Dai just knew when it was on the verge of being too much and knew how to calm me down and remind me I was not on my own. "I just...being a shinobi from Konoha seems surreal...I never thought about it, to me Konoha meant fuinjutsu and not active duty y'know? But in Kiri it is active duty however it is forced, I..."

"You didn't become a kunochi for good reasons," oji-chan said gently, "we both know that. Now I know it's different. Mei-san said it herself, your progresses were faster, and it's because you have a goal. What is it?"

"Change Kiri. Make it a home for kekkai genkai users unlike how it is today. A home for people who are lost and confused about what their purpose is in life, like me in my past life," I blurted out. I pressed my hand on my mouth by reflex. I knew I wanted to turn Kiri upside-down, I didn't realize it was because I would have wanted a place like that before.

"You have never really searched for an answer as to why you personally wanted to join the Resistance," Minato stated calmly with a knowing smile. "However, if you have that in mind, then where does your loyalty lie?"

"Sensei, obviously," I answered automatically, "she went through the Bloody Mist before Zabuza-san, she wants an end to it. I'll put the Mizukage hat on her head and help he...OH!"

"You don't have to think about Sandaime's proposition now, do you?" I furrowed my brows at the sadness lingering in his smile. He noticed that and brushed my concern aside. "Don't worry about me. When Kushina and I wanted you and your mother in Konoha, it was for your safety, you would have been a kunoichi if you had wanted too. Uzumakis survivors are interesting for most villages, and you are part Yuki too, it makes you even more special. It's only natural for you to be wary of who you want to help with your skills. With how things were in your past life, what Konoha did back then and didn't do here a few years ago, I understand you do not necessarily want to fight for her."

"The Uchiha clan is alive too," I added in a whisper, "they don't need me with powerhouses like Itachi, Shisui or Fugaku-san. In Kiri it's..."

"I know." Desolated, awful, it needs strong people to fight for it whereas Konoha already had some. I snorted and raised a brow when oji-chan stood up and crouched in front of me. "I also know you're hurt by your argument with Shisui."

"He hates it, me being in the Mist, right? He was...he was worried, wasn't he? And I pushed him away as if he was nothing. I hurt him a lot two years ago and I hurt him once again. I'm a terrible friend, ain't I?"

"Well, you did hurt him, there is no denying it." I sighed and relaxed when Minato embraced me with one arm, pulling me closer to his chest. He was dead, I knew it was only his soul, but he was solid and warm. "You have a mission too, and he doesn't know it. It's...Yagura knew what he was doing by sending you here, he wanted to test you, break you a little bit more and it worked. But when it's all over, Shisui will understand your position. Even if he is worried right now, as a shinobi he will understand."

"Man, do you know how scary are the Uchihas when they care about something?" I asked with a roll of my eyes. "And when they care about _you_ they're actually terrifying. They really wear their hearts on their sleeves when it comes to love and it's...it's terrifying."

"You know something about it, don't you?" I pushed Minato away with a blush at his teasing.

"Would the people here even understand if I stayed in Kiri after the coup?"

"With time yes. Don't think about them though, nobody but you can decide for who and for what you want to fight. They really care about you, if it makes you happy even if it's not here they will accept it."

"I...guess you're right."

"When in doubt you can talk to me you know."

"I know it's just...I know sometimes I need someone to remind me of what's going on so that I don't drown in the pressure of all of it, but I don't want to become emotionally addicted people. I don't want to get addicted to people telling me I have to keep going like I've been being since I saw Shisui. No, since I came back in Konoha."

"Well, that's exactly what Yagura, Obito wants. Once you're back in Kiri your thoughts will be clearer. Keeping your secret around people with whom you've already shared some of your secrets is not easy. You have to keep yourself from getting lost in all of them."

"Easier said than done! I mean...I..."

"Akane, can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah?"

"What is Uchiha Shisui to you?" I blinked sheepishly at him. Shisui? What was Shisui to me?

"Safety," I replied slowly. "He got me out of Kiri at the moment I least expected. He brought us back to Konoha and believed me. He's like my safety net and I can't have one right now. Actually, I don't wanna drag any of them in the mess that is Kiri. I know how I am, and I know if Shisui was there to pick me up when I'm down then I wouldn't resist falling over and over again, because I know he would always pick me up without asking anything in return."

"You're scared of taking advantage of him?"

"I'm still a coward deep down you know," I whispered, my eyes starting to close, "and I had closed myself so much to people in my life that when someone shows me kindness and wants to help, I tend to just say 'yes' and let them do everything. I know denying help is not the solution, but I also know it's one of the only way I will do something by myself. In Konoha they're so...so soft, soft fools, somehow. In the past I wished to be the same, but the Bloody Mist will never let me be one. I...do I still make sense?"

"The subjects are changing but I follow you," he told me with a grin. "You're falling asleep anyway. We'll talk more later, when the Exams are over, okay?"

"'kay...thanks for making me talk and listening...it's a lil'bit clearer now I talked about it to someone else..."

"I am here to listen Aka-chan," he chuckled as I felt myself leaving this plan.

* * *

"Hi, I'll be your the escort to your comrade Uzumaki-san," an Uchiha around my age with short spiky brown hair and black eyes told me, the police symbol proudly on display on his sleeve. I nodded and turned to look back at the road. The Exams were the day after tomorrow, so tomorrow would be the start of the festival. Today, Dai and Mangetsu were coming. I didn't know where my genin were, I knew Itachi was still looking after them as I had another Uchiha with me, but we were supposed to meet at three in the afternoon with the boys. It was two right now.

"Good to know." We stayed in silence for a couple more minutes, the chuunin guarding the gates glancing at us every now and then, until I spotted a white moving thing far away. "Here they are in the flesh." I ain't gonna lie, the more they were getting closer, the more at ease I was feeling. They would be able to make me keep my cool. I took a step forward when Dai's emerald eyes met mine and he smiled at me.

"Uzu, still alive!" he greeted me, seemingly ignoring Mangetsu who was continuing their conversation. I smiled at them when they stopped in front of me. "You took the young version, but the old version has been so annoying since you guys left!"

"Are you really complaining about me when I'm here?" Mangetsu asked as he squinted his eyes to our medic. Said medic made a shocked face.

"Me? Making fun of you? Never man, never!" We both rolled our eyes at his childish behavior.

"So, they passed?"

"We wouldn't be here if they didn't," I answered the swordsman and started walking. As we went to the training ground, the Uchiha silently observing us, I felt my teammates looking all around them. Mangetsu was already drinking. With no mist around and the summer sun above us, he would be dehydrated pretty fast.

"It's different," Dai stated as we stopped at the lake. "More...colorful. Even you Uzu, you're less pale than when you left."

"Yeah, living surrounded by mist gives us our beautiful corpse-like tan, so when we go out in the sun..."

"So, how are you?" I glanced at Mangetsu, who was shaking his empty bottle while staring at me. My eyes went back and forth between him and Dai and I offered them a strained smile.

"I'm very happy to see guys. Dai, you were right about being caref-"

"Oh don't tell me you got on an Uchiha dick!" I deadpanned at him and the only Uchiha around, who seemed slightly familiar, blushed furiously.

"I think she meant the other thing." I nodded and Dai made a relieved face before walking over to me to hug me.

"Now physical torture doesn't work anymore Yagura uses the mental one," he hissed in my ear, making circles on my back to soothe me. "You managed though?"

"Yeah...now it will be better because you're here." Mangetsu joined us and patted my shoulder with a knowing smirk.

When my team arrived, they all had long faces. Suigetsu barely greeted his older brother, and it was when Itachi popped into existence next to me in civilian clothes I _knew_ something bad happened.

"Itachi, the fuck happened?"

"They had a meeting with Gaara of the Desert at the hospital, Naruto and Nara Shikamaru were here too. I made my move when he was ready to make his." My blood froze in my veins at what Itachi was implying and my eyes searched for any injury on my genin. There seemed to be nothing except a rest of fear in their eyes. They knew some jinchuriki, but they never met an unstable one before.

"It looks like we all have a lot to talk about," Mangetsu stated plainly, shooting a quick glance to Itachi, who returned it. Right, Itachi and Sasuke were the _second_ pair of prodigy siblings I had to deal with in any of my lives. God knew Mangetsu and Suigetsu were worst.

"Let's go to Ichiraku then," I muttered under my breath.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :)**

 **Ederisu:** **Thanks for the review, and who knows who she'll end up with :)**

 **Bella-swan11:** **Thanks for the review :) and...her children will most likely stay in her past life for reasons I'll explain later.**

 **nevvy:** **Thanks for the review and I'mm glad you like the fight scene :)**

 **Also, I received a review from Doombug and even if they won't read this, do you guys think Akane's condition is confusing or something like that? I'm planning on explaining it better before the timeskip anyway, but let me know :)**

 **Bye !**


	29. Chuunin Exams Arc: Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 12/13**

 **Shisui: 21**

 **Kakashi: 26**

* * *

"So let me get this straight. Seal Masters don't have to obey Hidden Villages because it's like an entire other thing so the Hyuuga clan asked for your help and paid you, and now you're treating us to ramen after you baited on your cousin for his fight against the _Hyuuga_ genius?" Dai summed up slowly. I nodded and swallowed a mouthful of noodles. I missed Ichiraku ramen. We didn't go last night because apparently briefing them outside of a secure zone was 'dangerous'. Needless to say our hotel room was crowded, between genin whose levels were above their ranks and anbu, including the Fourth Mizukage's apprentice and the one guy who mastered the seven Swords, it was better not to piss us off.

"So an Uzumaki reached the Third Exam and is fighting against a guy with a dōjutsu. It barely sounds familiar," Mangetsu told us and I noticed the Uchiha with us ducked lower toward his bowl. He wasn't talkative but I felt his eyes on me more than once. "Don't you think it's familiar Uchiha?" Said Uchiha nodded and Dai bent over the counter a little bit more.

"We agree on that, don't we Uchiha?"

"Why are you almost harassing the poor guy?" I asked my team and they both sighed at me. I blinked in confusion and glanced at the Uchiha, who was basically sulking and muttering things I couldn't hear.

"Nee-chan?" I heard a quiet voice behind me. I raised a brow and looked over my shoulder. The words 'Naruto' and 'quiet' usually didn't go together. Yet, here he was, a gloomy glint in his eyes.

"Ohhh, so that's him!" Dai said as he pushed me to look at Naruto. "Heh, I don't really see a resemblance, he doesn't even have red hair!"

"Dai-kun, isn't it?" Mom said as I noticed her next to Naruto. She looked at Mangetsu, who was quietly watching us. "And Mangetsu-kun."

"You must be Akiko-san." I turned my head to my swordsman friend with wide eyes. I pointed a shaking finger at him in accusation and he merely looked at me in wonder.

"You knew, didn't you? You knew me, Dai and you used to have play dates when we were in diapers!" I ignored the 'what' from the medic of the team and glared when Mangetsu nodded. Slowly, a smug smirk appeared on his lips, his sharp teeth visible.

"You never asked Uzu. None of you asked. It's not _that_ surprising when you think about it." I pondered over it. Dad was powerful enough to be considered a candidate for the Mizukage's hat and Mangetsu was from the Hozūki clan, but Dai and sensei were from the lower class of Kiri. Although Dad made us leave Kiri and Mom was born in Uzushio so it wasn't surprising of them to hang out with Dai's parents.

"Anyway Naruto, if Akane managed to be a chuunin you will too," Mom said as she ran her hand in my cousin's hair. He frowned, deep in his thoughts and looked up to me. My cold eyes stopped anything from coming out of his mouth. I took money out of my pocket and left it next to my bowl, before leaving. The three others followed quickly.

"That was cold, even for you," Dai said casually, his hands in his pocket and Mangetsu sighed next to me and draped an arm over my shoulders.

"It's almost over," he whispered and I nodded absently. Yeah, it was. After the coup, I would be able to be normal with him again.

The next morning, I got up after a couple of hours of sleep. The six of us spent a long time preparing and I made contact seals for everyone so that we could send signals if we were in big troubles. Mangetsu gave his sword to Chōjūrō, saying he still had the other two with him. The tournament started at one in the afternoon, so I let my team wandering around and I went for a walk. I didn't really care about what or who was around me, until I heard a girl's voice calling my name. I turned around and quirked a brow at Temari's concerned face.

"Hey," I said softly and she averted her eyes to the ground. I didn't have my forehead protector on and with the number of foreigners in the streets, nobody was sparring us a look. Except Itachi, because I could feel his chakra a little bit clearer, as if to tell me he was still here and had to report anything suspect. He was almost begging me to stay away from Temari, but from the look in her dark green eyes, I knew I couldn't. She...this Temari didn't know me, but old Temari was my friend. A dear, close friend. "you're concerned about him?"

"Could you...follow me? For a walk?" Temari was a strong and proud kunoichi, but when it came to her brothers she was soft. Even if Gaara was still unstable, she loved him nonetheless. So I nodded and we ended in a back alley. I leaned on a wall as she stared at the crowd in the main street with guilt in her eyes.

"Temari...you are smart, aren't you?" I asked her slowly and she snapped her attention back at me. "You can make the difference between what's right or wrong, between a winning and losing situation, right?" She widened her eyes and clenched her fists in frustration. I shot a side glance a the people talking animatedly not far from us. "Your father asked me to restrain Shukaku's hold on Gaara's mind, yet I know it has been removed. He might be even more unstable than before if it was done clumsily, and Rasa knows perfectly well I should have been the one to remove it. Did he even try to contact me?" No response except for a dry chuckle.

"So you know, don't you Akane? How the Kazekage wants to use Gaara as a weapon?"

"It was not very complicated to guess when I didn't feel my seal. The real question is, do you treat your baby brother as a weapon Temari?" She bit her bottom lip to the point she drew blood. She wiped it away quickly and shot me one last look before leaving. Maybe...maybe I managed to reach her. Itachi swiftly jumped down next to me without a sound, his head toward where the blond left. He turned his head to me. "If you gave my message to the Hokage when we met her team before the Exams started, then he already knows."

"I see," he answered blandly.

"How did Sasuke's training go? Haku is very strong you know."

"I know, it's because of him Sasuke can use his sharingan whenever he wants to now," he told me in a low voice, "and I don't know, Kakashi-san took him away when he left the hospital after the preliminaries."

"It should be interesting then." I body flickered away.

When we entered the grandstands, they were already full. So with Dai and Mangetsu, plus our Uchiha escort, we went to the railing and leaned on it. There were already some contestants on the battle field, Haku and Chōjūrō included. However, Suigetsu wasn't there.

"For fuck's sake Mangetsu, I hope your brother didn't run into some troubles on the way," Dai sighed next to me. "The same goes for your cousin Uzu."

"They'll come," I muttered in sync with Mangetsu and we lowly high fived each other. Plus, Sasuke wasn't there yet either. And Genma was down there as the proctor, not Hayate. Why? Why the change? Did something happen I wasn't aware of?

I turned my head to the doors down there and widened my eyes when Naruto _and_ Suigetsu came running for their lives out of them. They both fell down and Suigetsu started drinking as not a sound was made in the stadium.

Thus the tournament started, Naruto and Neji ending up being the last one on the field. It started with Neji having the upper hand, and Naruto not giving up, and mainly a lot of talking. I knew the Hyuuga clan started changing on the day old Naruto beat old Neji, and by working with the Hyuuga clan I knew a little bit about their recent History, so even if it was moving, I didn't care that much for what they were saying. Even if seeing Neji do the Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation was pretty impressive.

"Heh...Akane-sensei?" I averted my eyes from the fight to Kiba, in civilian clothes and with Akamaru on his head. He was clearly uncomfortable, especially with how Dai repeated the 'sensei' part. "Hinata..." I looked behind him to see a very pale Hinata using the railing to support herself. I gently pushed Kiba aside and helped Hinata by putting one of her arm on my shoulders.

"Kiba, show me the way to the infirmary." He nodded.

"Uzu..." Dai muttered in annoyance under his breath, emerald eyes telling me I was playing a dangerous game.

"Seal Masters and shinobi are two different things," I told him in a whisper and I followed Kiba.

On the way, Hinata coughed out blood and fainted. I almost ran to the infirmary and I placed her gently on a bed. I didn't even have to do anything to her seal that a green glow appeared. I smiled a little at that.

"She's fine, she will just sleep it off now," I assured Kiba as I took a cloth in the room. I damped it in water and wiped the blood from Hinata's chin. I checked for any rest of the seal and was glad when I found none.

"Thanks." I raised a brow at Kiba fidgeting on his feet. "Why did Hinata come to you?"

"Because her father asked me to help, she knew that so when she felt the seal about to release the healing jutsu, she probably thought it would be better if I was there," I answered blandly.

"But you're not a ninja from Konoha!"

"It...it's clan business Kiba." He seemed ready to bark back at me when the door opened and Neji was put near Hinata. He looked at us strangely and decided to ignore us. When Hiashi-san arrived too, it was my cue to leave. I bowed to Hiashi-san and dragged Kiba behind me. However, we were barely five meters away when Shisui came to us. Or more like 'Shisui'. "Uchiha-san?"

"Miss, I would advise you not to come down here without a Konoha shinobi with you." Yep, definitely not Shisui. Whoever it was who took Shisui's appearance because of his reputation and thought it would be enough to reach Hinata didn't know I personally knew Shisui. I put on my best fake smile.

"Sorry, I'll go back then." He nodded and as we passed next to each other, my hand went to grab his neck swiftly and I put my immobility seal on him. 'Shisui' widened his eyes and my hand slide to his torso, black fuin symbols slipping from my fingers. "Fuinjutsu: Canceling Jutsu Seal." 'Shisui' disappeared in a puff of smoke to reveal a shinobi from Kumo, in shock, and I heard noises in the infirmary. Kiba ran back there and I let the shinobi drop on the floor. "Still onto the Byakugan?"

"You...you're..." he stuttered, recognition in his ugly eyes, "Frozen Shinigami." I rolled my eyes at the nickname. I was in all of the Bingo Books except Konoha, which was super hard to avoid by the way. But my first one was Kumo's after my Chuunin Exams, and that stupid nickname stuck. Even if now, 'Shinigami' was quite fitting.

"I'm as popular as ever." I grabbed the back of his flak jacket and dragged him in the infirmary. What was not my surprise to see Neji in front of Hinata, Byakugan activated, glaring down at an unconscious Kumo ninja. "So he has a friend too." I threw my victim next to his friend and nodded at Hiashi-san before really leaving this time. If Neji was here, I won my bet and Chōjūrō was currently fighting.

When I joined the guys, Chōjūrō was declared the winner, Hiramekarei in his hands. I smirked at the whispers in the audience and when Mangetsu glanced at me, I could see he was having his little fun too. I cast a glance at the contestants stand, where Suigetsu was snickering I think. Haku was talking to Naruto and I squinted to get a better look at their expressions. Sasuke was nowhere to be seen and people were starting to talk. God dammit Kakashi, don't give your tardiness to Sasuke!

"That's not like Sasuke-sama..." I heard the Uchiha mumble and my left eye twitched. Sasuke and Itachi were the sons of the head of the clan, it was normal for said clan to use '-sama' when they were referring to them. Still, it was so weird.

"Heh, shouldn't the Uchiha be disqualified?" Mangetsu asked as they announced they would proceed to the next match. Suigetsu against Gaara. I looked at them and smirked at Suigetsu's scared face.

"Yeah no, I give up, I'm not fighting that guy!" he yelled, flailing his arms around. It was good though, there was an imminent attack, my genin was not going to fight against an unstable jinchuriki just before, especially if said jinchuriki was a signal of some sort.

"Well then, Temari and Nara Shikamaru, get down!" Temari did, flying on her giant fan, and I could just _hear_ Shikamaru complaining in my head. I kinda missed old Shikamaru, he was a good friend and colleague. But well, now he was twelve! And boy was their match hilarious. Incredibly interesting in term of strategy, leave it to Shikamaru, but hilarious because of everyone's reaction to Shikamaru giving up when he had Temari trapped in his shadow.

"The kid was spent, in a real mission it would have allow his team to retreat," Dai commented idly, his left cheek supported by his left hand. "Pretty smart."

"He's a Nara, they're geniuses more often than not," I replied mechanically, my eyes searching for any signs of Sasuke and Kakashi. Haku went down on the field and shared a look with Genma. And we waited.

We actually waited for a contestant who was late when they had a schedule to respect. I glanced at the Kage. Something wasn't right with Rasa, that was for sure, but there was a weird feeling in the air. It was just...dread, and it made all of the hairs on my body stand on end. Fuck, Naoto-senpai would have been useful. My stomach was twisted in an awful knot.

"Uzu.." Mangetsu trailed off next to me, slowly turning his purple gaze toward me, "is it just me or does Konoha ANBU seem to be very hostile out of sudden?" I frowned at the sudden wave of chakra in the air and white feathers suddenly appeared out of nowhere. As one man, the four of us dispelled the genjutsu as lots of people fell under it. I saw Temari and Kankuro leaving with Gaara, and Haku woke Naruto up and left with him, Chōjūrō following closely. Fights broke out a little bit everywhere in the stadium and explosion were blocked above us, the barrier emitting lights at every bombs. I widened my eyes when I spotted a huge white bird in the sky, a blond guy riding it.

My attention was stuck on his coat, even with the Hokage getting in a fight with Orochimaru.

Black. With read clouds.

Shit. Shit!

How much have I changed by getting Danzo kill so soon and keeping the Uchiha alive!? It was the fucking Butterfly Effect! Save a powerful clan, the attacks will be more powerful, of course!

And Kakashi and Sasuke were still not there. Probably attacked by some Sound-nin on the way because whatever Orochimaru wanted to do in the Forest of Death was compromised.

"Akane!" I turned around to see Ko, Byakugan on, running toward me.

"Dai, Ko, find Uchiha Sasuke and Hatake Kakashi, they probably were attacked on the way," I ordered them, my eyes turning cold.

"I'm gonna get my brother," Mangetsu said, summoning Kabutowari before jumping away. If Deidara was here, then Sasori...Sasori...

As chaos exploded around me, the Uchiha with us patted my shoulder. His harsh gaze made me calm down. In front of us, I could see Shisui and Itachi busy fighting against a tenacious guy.

"Sensei!" I looked up at Tenten, who was leading a group composed of Neji, Kiba, Hinata, but also Shikamaru, who clearly didn't want to be here, and Sakura, who looked crazy worried.

Fuck. Fuck Kiri and Konoha, right now there were kids lives on the line. I would deal with Yagura's wrath later. Fortunately for me, it seemed like the Uchiha with me read my mind.

"As a jounin and you genin, you're all gonna follow me and Uzumaki-san. We have to find Uzumaki Naruto and two genin of Kiri who ran after the trio of Suna."

"Kiba, Hinata, Neji, lead the way, they went for the forest at twelve o'clock."

And we were gone.

* * *

"Well," Kakashi started, looking at the smoke coming from Konoha with a frown, "it seems like we're not the only one having some troubles."

"Shouldn't we go back?"

"No, Fugaku-san can deal with the civilians and there are many shinobi," Kakashi said, looking back on the ninja from Oto. "We have some business here Sasuke."

The Hokage implied there would be an enemy attack, and having people watching them for the past month because Sasuke was a target had been stressful. Kakashi had to admit that if Orochimaru himself had showed up, he did not know if he could have done anything. Even if having many jounin level Sound shinobi was not an ideal situation either with Sasuke next to him. The best outcome would be backups, but with the village clearly under attack it would be complicated.

At least he thought so until Hyuuga Ko arrived from nowhere.

"Kakashi, look up!" Sasuke told him, a Chidori shining brightly in his hand. Kakashi did and felt relief wash over him. The two ink birds exploded and two anbu from Danzo's old Root landed in front of them, along with one of Akane's teammate.

"Is any of you hurt?" said teammate asked them, already checking for any injuries.

"We're fine," the silver haired jounin replied quickly, "situation?"

"Well, Uzu told me and the Hyuuga to come and find you when you didn't show up. A genjutsu sent everyone off to sleep except for those who dispelled it in time. There were fights in the stadium when we left, and around the village. There's none of the huge snakes destroying the village because of your barriers, but shinobi fighting in the streets. Hyuuga said the Police Forces had already sent civilians to safety and now were busy fighting too."

"Naruto and Akane's genin went after the Sand trio," Ko added before attacking.

"Fine. Then we need to get rid of them and reach the closest battle grounds to help. Sasuke, congratulations, instead of passing your Exam you have an A-rank mission!" Sasuke just frowned at his sensei's closed-eye smile. They were all under attack and that Gaara was dangerous. Of course Naruto would go after them, but Haku would know better, wouldn't he? Except if...

"Kid, Kiri is fighting with you on this." Sasuke started at the young man's voice next to him. His straight brown hair was held back by his forehead protector and his green eyes were deadly. "Uzu is probably after her cousin right now to take care of the jinchuriki and Mangetsu and Suigetsu are in the streets fighting. Don't worry, Konoha has never seen more of the Mist Swordsmen than today. Two qualified and two still in training. You've seen Zabuza-san, haven't you?"

"If you're done chatting, then fight!" Kakashi cut them off sharply, slicing a Sound-nin's throat quickly.

* * *

"The Chuunin Exams! You were _that_ Uchiha!" I exclaimed loudly, a accusing finger pointed at the Uchiha. A vein popped on his temple in frustration.

"Your teammates tried to make you understand since they got here and you remember me just _now_?" I scowled at him. To me, the Chuunin Exams in Kumo wasn't six years ago but twenty-nine years ago! Of course I didn't remember his face, just his fucking eyes!

"Is it really the time for this kind of talk?" Neji interrupted us coldly. Aouch, point for him.

"Hn, no. How far are we from them?"

"We're still at the same distance, Naruto-kun and the people with him are still running after Suna," Hinata filled us in. "But we have other people coming behind us, they don't want us to reach them."

"They're strong," Kiba added, and Akamaru barked in approbation.

"I can reach them fast, but I'd be on my own. I can direct them, my genin are with Naruto after all," I told the Uchiha, who had his sharingan burning in his eyes. "Shikamaru is smart, he could lead a small group and try to make a plan to distract the incoming and Hinata stays with you to guide you so you can join us. Other Konoha shinobi should be on their way too, right?"

"You have a point," he admitted and looked over his shoulder. "Nara, take Hyuuga Neji, the brown haired girl and the Inuzuka with you! Make a plan to keep the people who follows us away for a while and try to stay alive!"

"What but..."

"Shikamaru," I called out to him and he looked at me, slightly panicked at the order, "I know it's scary but you're the smartest and you know how they all fight. Backup should be on its way too." He nodded slowly and sighed.

"What a drag." Okay, he was calm again and already planning.

"We'll join you later Uzumaki-san," I nodded, connected my chakra to the kunai I gave Haku and teleported to it.

"What's up people?" They all jumped and glared at me. "That's the welcome I get for coming to help you?"

"How did you get there so fast nee-chan?"

"Not important now Naruto, you're after an unstable jinchuriki after all." I searched in my back pouch and took a small paper out of it and gave it Haku. "If Gaara really loses it to Ichibi, use that, I got it from Jiraya-san and it should put the bijuu under control, calm him down. Naruto," I looked at my cousin, who was completely lost, "don't question how I know stuff, but Gaara is like you okay? You have the Kyuubi, and he has the Ichibi. However, Ichibi is pretty nasty and hateful so he uses Gaara's loneliness to their advantages. Ichibi will take full possession of Gaara if Gaara falls asleep, okay? So keep him awake and if he falls asleep, wake him up. Haku, if Gaara starts to transform, try to use the seal. Put it on his head and it will work on his own. Chōjūrō, use your sword to break through Gaara's defense, it's made of sand so if it's soaked in water it will be slower."

"What about the other two?" Haku asked me, staring straight in front of him.

"Hopefully, they will be smart enough to know it's best for everyone not to release Ichibi here. But no killing, there is no need. I'm pretty sure Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage, never would have done an attack on Konoha on his own, or more like he wouldn't have done anything without someone whispering things in his ear."

"Orochimaru," Naruto groaned next to me. I glanced at him and noticed his eyes flashing red for a moment, the seal on my stomach itching slightly. "He..."

"He's way out of your league now, the Hokage is dealing with him. You have a mission now and it's to stop the Sand Siblings from releasing Ichibi. Naruto, understood?"

"Yeah! Gaara's my friend and I'm gonna save him 'ttebayo!" I smirked and cut my thumb to summon Seihitsu. Naruto yelped a little when the wolf appeared and groaned slightly.

"Unstable jinchuriki, take Naruto on your back we're speeding up." Naruto jumped on the wolf without a word and with a look to my genin, we sped up.

Yet, I couldn't help the dread invading my body. Because Deidara was fucking here, still bombing the barrier and the Akatsuki _never_ sends member on their own. Sasori was around, and I knew him and Deidara were responsible for Gaara's temporary death before. It would be stupid to go get the jinchuriki now, wouldn't it? Then what...scouting?

Crap, Temari, protect your brothers until we reach you guys, please.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :)**

 **Ederisu:** **Thanks for the review, and Yagura will reappear soon. The Uchihas being in Konoha, they won't be as present as in the first Arc for a while.**

 **Bye !**


	30. Chuunin Exams Arc: Final

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 12/13**

 **Shisui: 21**

 **Kakashi: 26**

* * *

We caught up with them. Kankuro stopped and tried to stop us, but Haku and I were faster and we body flickered in front of Gaara and Temari. Naruto joined us and went behind them, my summon still with Chōjūrō. I barely had the time to blink that sand was coming straight at us, and it was fast. Haku was faster and created a shield of ice in front of us. I was about to go out of hiding when Gaara sent sand all around him in extremely sharp spikes. I executed hand seals and spat water to form my water shield, and froze it, Haku joining me to be protected. Naruto created a bunch of clones to protect himself and smoke was all around him, and Temari was nowhere to be seen. My cousin tried a surprise attack, sending clones to attack Gaara, but they were all popped. Naruto almost was too if it wasn't for Temari's surprise intervention.

"Gaara, stop!" his sister pleaded. He barely frowned at her.

"If you become an hindrance to the mission I will kill you too."

"No offense, but if the Kazekage is the one who gave you your mission, then it's a scam. He wasn't even in Konoha to begin with, Orochimaru stole his identity. Sorry, he's probably dead by now." Gaara didn't even budge, his eyes turning lazily to me as Temari widened her eyes in shock. Kiri's bluntness just for you!

"So?" Haku and I avoided sand. Again, and again, until violent wind blew it away. I looked where the wind came from and smirked at Temari, open fan in her hands, Naruto frowning next to her. Right, he knew Rasa was their father and the Kazekage if I remember well.

"How can you say that of your father Gaara!?" Naruto screamed at the red haired boy.

"My father tried to kill me numerous time to turn me into the perfect weapon for Suna. His death is not..."

"A weapon!? Is that all you think you are!? A weapon!? Don't you remember the promise we made to each other when I left Suna!? That one day we would be Hokage and Kazekage! What happened to that!?"

"It is a foolish promise. We are weapons Naruto, none of us will ever be seen as anything else than that." I frowned. Yagura...was made a jinchuriki before he became the Mizukage even if he was already considered for the job, and to keep his position mastered his bijuu in a record time.

"I TOLD YOU I WOULD PROVE THEM WRONG! I'LL PROVE YOU WRONG TOO GAARA!" Naruto created even more clones than before and as they went against Gaara, I went to Temari.

"Temari, state your position in this fight now. It will be important later on, because sorry but there's no way you're winning this with six Kiri-nin in town, four of them being accomplished or in training Swordsmen."

"It was too sudden of him to attack Konoha," she admitted with sad eyes, "Kankuro and I have no reason to fight against you if...if our father is dead. But Gaara..."

"We'll deal with it, we won't kill him but make sure he's in no state to keep fighting. Go to Kankuro, show that," I placed one of my special kunai in her hand and made her close it on the weapon, "to my student and he'll know you're cool. Tell him to go back help the others." She nodded and left with one last look to her brother.

I summoned my katana and teleported to Haku's kunai, blocking the kunai aimed at him. I bit the inside of my cheek at the purple liquid covering the blades. I knew Deidara wouldn't be alone.

"Sensei..." Haku trailed off, but I didn't glance at him.

"Naruto and you take care of Gaara, sorry but I can't let someone else interfere, especially without knowing their level." I felt Haku tensed behind me and I jumped down, wind chakra on my katana blade. I threw two wind blades to where the kunai came from, my chakra making deep and clean cuts in the earth.

My eyes followed movement to the right and my feet barely touched the ground when I landed that I was following Sasori. How could I ever, after Kiri, trust Sasori who was basically a stranger and even crushing on him in my past life was above me. I was a stupid hormonal teenage girl after all I guess, and mom paid the price. The image of her still body, her skin a dull gray was still burned in my mind.

I ran after him for a while actually, I realized it when I spotted the guard towers signaling we were leaving Konoha's territory. I was pretty sure I would not even see the fighting in Konoha from there. I sent another wind blade and Sasori dodged, revealing himself to me. Or his huge puppet. Hiruko, wasn't it?

"Who the hell are you, you and the blond guy bombing the village? Who sent you here and why?" I asked coldly as he finally, finally turned to me. I clenched my fists tightly and he noticed, a dry chuckle coming from him.

"Scared of me little girl?"

"No, I won't allow myself to be scared of someone who hides in a _puppet_."

"Oh, you've already noticed? The Mizukage did a good job I guess."

"I'm still alive, ain't I?" I snorted back and released a storage seal through my left foot. I jumped and water violently popped out of the seal. Sasori placed his metal tail in front of him. "Fuuton: High Wind Technique!" The water became even more violent and Sasori's tail flew into pieces. I executed another series of seals. "Suiton: Wild Water Wave!" I focus an important dose of wind chakra in it and my jutsu pierced through the water of the seal. I heard wood cracking. With the water still attacking, I created three water clones and made them put an explosive seal on them. I landed on a tree branch when my clones exploded, pieces of wood and weapons flying into pieces. Something jumped out of the Hiruko puppet but I didn't have the time to care, because a certain smell hit my nose. I stopped breathing and put a blank storage seal on the tree, activating it to suck the poison gas up.

"It's quite impressive to destroy Hiruko so fast," I heard a painfully familiar voice said in front of me, a voice I had not heard for so long, "yet you were too impatient and forgot it was just a puppet, a weapon. Kiri ninja are as impatient as ever. You did a good job at getting rid of the gas without spreading it any further, I'm impressed." I looked up and glared at Sasori's mocking smirk, his brown eyes still bored and red hair still messy and curly. Just like I remembered him to be. He wasn't trying to coax me this time though, we were enemies.

"Why are you and that blond guy helping Orochimaru?" I asked and he stared at me for a second before frowning.

"We're not helping that _snake_."

"Then why did he steal the Kazekage's identity and is fighting the Hokage right now?" From the look on his face, he wasn't expecting that. Or Obito didn't tell them, or Orochimaru is way too good at manipulating even his old organization. Either way, I knew Sasori hated Orochimaru with passion.

"This attack was deemed to be a lost one for Suna and Oto anyway." I heard him mutter under his breath before his eyes were locked in a staring contest with mine. "There is something annoying with you though Uzumaki. Why are you looking at me with such anger when it's the first time we meet?"

"I know things about you, you don't seem like the kind of guy I would like."

"Say the girl coming from a cursed clan."

"I see my old man is talkative?" He seemed shocked for a brief second and his eyes grew cold. "Your grandma wasn't very nice to me when I met her, is my dad better? You have the same taste in coats, don't you?"

"You know too much," he stated and I used my blade to block the tip of the tail he threw at me with chakra strings.

I didn't know all of Sasori's tricks. However, I knew he was a puppet master, the best of the best and I would need to reach him. Problem was: I _needed_ to reach him, and he was not gonna let me do that.

"Hiding in the Mist Technique," I whispered and blew mist from my mouth.

The problem was you could not feel puppets because they didn't produce any chakra, and Sasori's chakra was very faint. Maybe using this jutsu was a mistake on my part, but I could go full Silent Killing mode on him. I threw my kunai kind of everywhere. I was up against puppets, but mist was everywhere and it was at my advantage. I could turn mist into a multitude of ice spikes.

I fucking had this, I wasn't the same Akane as in my past life.

I went behind him without a sound and raised my sword, just to meet something solid. My katana broke and I cursed. As I was about to make another move, the mist became less dense, enough for me to see the shadow of Sasori's puppet and the black form in front of it. Was the small dose of poison interfering? Probably, I was starting to feel dizzy. I was about to take a boosting seal when I dropped on my knees, the mist disappearing entirely. My hand was clenched on my flak jacket on the stomach area.

It was burning. The seal was burning! It was hurting like hell and...and I felt like...no, my chakra was leaving me!

What...Sandaime? Was he...summoning the Shinigami!?

I took my contact seal and activated it, hoping Mangetsu or Dai showed up and _quick_ , because Sasori's smirk was far from pleasant to see.

"Would you happen to have health problem?" he taunted as he jumped in front of me, his puppet getting closer and closer. But he stopped and frowned. "Wait, it's not the effects of the poison. I can't turn you in a puppet if your body is sick." I felt flattered, really. But at that rhythm I would die, or at least pass out from chakra exhaustion.

I widened my eyes when the Uchiha I was with earlier cast a fire jutsu at Sasori, who jumped back, and landed in front of me. I tried to form words, anything to tell him he was out of his league and he should leave me here, that he should not help me.

Yet he attacked. I could only watch, powerless, how he put up a fight for a minute before being touched by a needle dripping in poison. I could only hear his pain moans as black invaded my vision, my body on fire. I needed to cool my body down. I needed to.

So, I did. I used the kinjutsu I created and couldn't control and slowly froze the inside of my body, sighing in relief at the coolness in my insides and how good it felt.

And I fainted, the Uchiha giving out one last pained breath before his body relax entirely.

* * *

"You're fucking annoying!" the bomb guy spat at Itachi as his bird was covered in black flames. Itachi wiped the blood from his eye and dodged the clay coming at him, which exploded in the forest behind him, and the blonde let go of his burning bird to create another one. He had let Shisui deal with the man in the stadium and attacked the one in the black and red coat, following him when he started to flee. Now he was out of the village but still in its limits. His red glance looked down when he felt someone else and frowned when he recognized one of Akane's teammate, who was in his Bingo Book. One of the Seven. He looked back and joined Itachi when he saw him.

"That guy is going toward Uzu's position," he informed the Uchiha with irritation in his voice, "I don't know what happened but she's in troubles right now."

"Where is your brother?"

"I left him behind, he was going to where his teammates were. What's worrisome is that guy is going to where Uzu is and if she is that far from Konoha, then it means she wanted to have space to fight."

"A dangerous ninja then," Itachi guessed, eyes staring straight in front of him, "maybe that man didn't come alone."

The burning bird started to glow and exploded. Itachi used his Susanoo to protect himself. When the smoke disappeared, he saw the Swordsman, Mangetsu if he remembered well, reformed himself as if nothing had ever happened. He stopped his technique and winced slightly, the pain in his body barely bearable. The Susanoo...Itachi tried his best not to use it, like his Mangekyou Sharingan, but right now he didn't care. The blonde man was a threat, and if what Mangetsu said was true, then Akane was in a bad state _and_ there was another ninja lurking around.

"I hope she's not dead," he thought out loud and he cursed himself for having forgotten he was not alone.

"Uzu is way too stubborn to die, that's what I said to that Shisui when I saw him on my mission years ago. She won't die a useless death," was the confident reply he got. Kiri was not famous for comradeship, which was one of the reason why Shisui was having such a hard time seeing Akane wearing Kiri's symbol, yet that guy was rushing to her to help. Itachi's eyes turned vague. Kiri and the Land of Water did not let information about them get out of the borders, so nobody really knew how it was over there except those who lived there. From what he witnessed, Akane's team all trusted each other, so as Akane's friend, he would do the same. Not that he could do more when she would leave again. Shisui...Shisui needed to do the same, for his own sake.

Wind was lashing their faces but none of them cared. They were too busy avoiding the many bombs they were sent. Quickly, they left Konoha territory and the trees grew denser. Mangetsu sped up out of sudden, his face falling quickly. He jumped down and Itachi followed, noticing the earth and grass going from dry to humid to completely wet.

The Uchiha saw Akane, lying down on the ground, and another shinobi wearing the Uchiha crest motionless a few meters away. His sharingan met bored brown eyes as the blond man lowered his bird closer to him.

They were both wearing the same coat. Black with red clouds.

"We're done here," the bomber said and Sasori jumped behind him on the bird, "the girl got your puppet my man, yeah?"

"Shut up," Sasori replied with annoyance, "she was disappointing in the end, nothing like what he told us, weak for someone who learned from a Kage." They took off, under Itachi's harsh gaze before the Uchiha checked his clansman pulse. When he found none, he went to the two Kiri-nin's sides. He looked for a pulse and widened his eyes when he found none.

"Calm down Uchiha, she's not dead," Mangetsu told him in agitated voice, "fuck what is Dai doing? I can't..." He didn't finish his sentence and placed a hand over her heart and the other on her forehead. He frowned and drew back his lips in frustration, one sharp canine coming into view.

"Mangetsu!" their other teammate, Dai, yelled as he landed next to them, followed by Hyuuga Ko, Sasuke and two anbu. The young man rushed to Akane and placed a hand on her cheek, cursing at how cold she was. Almost as if she had been dead for a long time, worrying Itachi even more. The only thing keeping him from snapping was that he didn't know Akane's techniques, and this might very well be one of them. "I told her _not_ to use it, that I wouldn't be able to...what a fucking moron!"

"I tried to control the water of her body around her brain and her heart but it keeps freezing."

"Go get her stuff Mangetsu, I take care of her. Uchiha, move aside." Itachi did and watched him taking out different seals from his back pouch. The Uchiha recognized Akane's hand writing on them. Dai looked through them and put one on her forehead, executed a series of hand seals and the symbols on the paper spread out onto her skin. "Okay, now she's in stasis, nothing will get worse, nothing will get better. Hyuuga, if you were to block some of her tenketsu around her heart and vital organs, would they suffer from it?"

"No," Ko answered, kneeling next to them, "if she stays unconscious then it will be fine and leaving her in a forced coma could be good."

"Great, because putting someone in stasis is not the best. We need to go to the hospital. Hey, anbu kid!" the medic called out to the boy next to a stunned Sasuke, "We can't move her joints without risking permanent damages, can you transport her with one of your ink bird?" As they were getting ready to transport her, Mangetsu picked up all of Akane's kunai and the seal on the tree, but stopped at the broken pieces of her katana.

"Dai, her katana is broken."

"So what?"

"Uzu always uses her wind affinity to sharpen her katana blade."

"That man used something hard enough to counter it and break it," Itachi stated with a frown on his face and Mangetsu nodded.

Itachi needed to report this. Black coats and red clouds. They...were a serious threat.

* * *

"Gaara..." Naruto trailed off, in front of his immobile friend, who was sitting on the ground with an angry scowl on his face, "please stop it. Stop the fight, you can't move anymore and Shukaku is under control."

"Shut...up!" he growled between clenched teeth as Haku joined Naruto, an arm injured. "You don't...you don't understand!"

"You know I do Gaara," Naruto shot back with sadness, "being alone, being rejected when we were children without knowing why. Being denied love by everyone and watch people having others to rely on when they keep pushing you away. I hated them so much, I wanted to know why...I wanted to know what I did wrong. But Iruka-sensei treated me kindly when I went to the Academy, even if I didn't have any friends. Aunty and nee-chan arrived when I was eight and nee-chan saved my life and ended up in the hospital, but Aunty didn't resent me because I was the one nee-chan tried to protect with Sasuke 'ttebayo! They...they taught me and showed me how it was to have a family and how good it was! You think you're alone but you're not! You've got a brother and a sister who love you too, who just want to be close to you! You just, you just have to let them get close and they'll help you prove yourself to your village, prove you're not just a monster! Don't let Shukaku tell you how to live your life! You're Gaara, shinobi of Suna, not Gaara the monster!"

"Na...ruto..." Gaara whispered with wide eyes.

"We promised each other we would prove ourselves to them, that we would be Hokage and Kazekage!" the young Uzumaki reminded him, limping pitifully to his fallen friend. Haku grabbed the back of his orange jacket when he started to fall forward and helped him to reach Gaara. He stretched out his hand to the Sand jinchuriki, a determined spark burning in his blue eyes. "I don't care if we're not from the same village, you are one of my first friends Gaara, the first one who understood how I felt and I know you'll help me in the future. It's because we're friends I want to help you now and make you realize you're not alone. Please, let me help you!"

Gaara stared, completely astonished, at Naruto. Even after everything, he still wanted to be his friend. It was with a trembling hand he took Naruto's hand, who grinned and held it even tighter, silently making him understand he would be here.

Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke and squinted harshly at Gaara. Temari and Kankuro, who joined them a while earlier, went in front of their little brother by reflex.

"Temari, Kankuro," Gaara started slowly, "thank you, but it's enough. I'm...done fighting for today, you two should be too."

"Suna and Oto are retreating and we're trying to catch as many of them as we can. You three will go in T&I for a while."

"We will answer to Konoha," Gaara spoke out, his turquoise eyes meeting Kakashi's black and red ones, "right now we are under the impression our father, the Fourth Kazekage, might have been killed by Orochimaru and gotten his identity stolen. It is what Sasaki Akane implied before she left."

"I see," Kakashi said thoughtfully and he took his genin on his back, "let's go to the hospital. The fights are over. Haku, on the way we were with Terumi Dai, he left when a seal started glowing red." Haku widened his eyes and turned around to see Suigetsu and Chōjūrō running toward him.

"Mangetsu went to Uzu too and asked me to come as backup," Suigetsu filled him in with a long face, "but yeah, Konoha is cleaning up its streets."

"Do we agree you will do as I say?" Kakashi asked the three Sand genin, who all nodded quietly. "Fine, let's go."

The way back to the village was silent, the only sound between them being the wind in the leaves, even after picking up the genin who had stayed behind. They all, except for Naruto who had passed out, widened their eyes in horror at the sight of the bodies in the street, all from Konoha, Suna or Oto. Hinata held back a sob, her Byakugan showing her the damages all around the village.

"Neji, Shikamaru, take the Sand genin to T&I. Hum...Suigetsu, is it? Go with them please, in case of..."

"I get it," the young swordsman cut him off idly. They walked to the hospital quietly and a strangled sob escaped Sakura. She tried to stop it by pressing her hands against her mouth, but everybody heard it. Nobody said anything. The only persons not fazed by the deadly scenery around them were Chōjūrō and Haku. The state Konoha was in was the usual state of Kiri and the Land of Water. The gap between the two nations had never been so clear in the entirety of the Chuunin Exams.

"Kakashi-kun." They stopped at the hospital entrance. Sasaki Akiko was there with some nurses, her face grave. "Naruto?"

"He's exhausted but alive, no life threatening injuries." She nodded with dull eyes. "Akiko-san?"

"Sandaime-sama...passed away during his fight against Orochimaru," she reported slowly, as if to be sure they would all perfectly comprehend it. The Hokage...was dead. Suna and Oto has lost, but they took their leader with them.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :)**

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 **rentamiya:** **Thank you :D**

 **Bye !**


	31. Konoha Hospital Arc: Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 12/13**

 **Shisui: 21**

 **Kakashi: 26**

* * *

"Akiko-san, may I ask you a question?"

"What is it Dai-kun?"

"When we got to the hospital, there was a seal on Uzu's stomach. She taught me a lot about them because I'm a medic, and I know there is something sealed inside of her. Is that...that's why she was near complete chakra exhaustion, isn't it? She never told us she had that on her, and I'm sure as hell she didn't have it before Uchiha Shisui got her out of Kiri. She's not a jinchuriki because Konoha wouldn't have let her go like that, so what..." the medic trailed off, concern-filled eyes watching over his unconscious teammate. She wasn't plugged or anything, she was just under the blankets of her hospital bed. The stasis seal was not there anymore thanks to Ko's technique which stopped her own kinjutsu, but her insides were not melting. She was just...there, like a corpse, the underneath of her epidermis frozen. They couldn't plug her to any machines to check her vitals.

"Dai-kun, Mangetsu-kun," The latter averted his eyes from the cloudy sky he was staring at through the window, "you care about my daughter, don't you? You've helped her go through Yagura's special treatment?" They both nodded. "Then ask her when she wakes up, but keep in mind if she tells you that she's not lying."

"We will wait for her to talk then," Mangetsu said before Dai could speak, "you should go now Akiko-san, the funerals should start soon."

"I probably should fetch Kakashi-kun first," she whispered with one last glance to her daughter, "take care of her for me, now and when you'll leave."

"We will." Akiko left, leaving the two anbu with their sleeping teammate. "What is our position exactly now their Hokage is dead Mangetsu?"

"I don't know. If we can't move Uzu like you said until she wakes up, then we should contact the Mizukage and tell him about the situation. I know," he said as he noticed his friend pacing, "that the Mizukage is like _that_ , but we can't provoke a diplomatic incident."

"How would we provoke a diplomatic incident? By stealing one of their pigeon to send a message!?"

"I don't know," Mangetsu hissed under his breath, "I don't know Dai, but with Uzu's team in T&I for interrogation about all they have seen during the Exams and her in that state, we better be careful. Especially between you and Uchiha Shisui, he can come and see her if he wants to."

"I don't like him."

"I hate to admit it, but he saved my life."

"And made us believe she was dead!"

"Come on, you and I both know we never fully believed it. It's not what pisses you off." Dai scowled at the swordsman, who looked down at the floor in thoughts. "It's how he's looking at us, isn't it?"

"I don't care if they are friends or not, or even if there was more, but nothing gives him the right to look at us as if we were going to harm her on purpose. I'm pretty sure Uzu never said anything about what happened in Kiri and he's making assumptions about us because he doesn't know anything and..."

"He cares about her a lot."

"I don't give a shit! Nothing gives him the right to question me when I was trying to heal her!" Dai snapped at him, his hands firmly clenched into fists on his sides. "He doesn't _know_ us and just because we are from _Kiri_ he thinks we don't care about our comrades!"

"Dai, shut up now," Mangetsu ordered him with a frown. "Don't go too far, you never know who could be listening."

"In any case, Uchiha needs to understand we care about Uzu too and that we've had her back since day one." Mangetsu raised an eyebrow at that and Dai snarled. "Fine, I needed an time of adaptation but you got along with her pretty early."

"I saw her passed out where I used to train. I understood the situation earlier than you, that's for sure, you angry narrow-minded sadistic medic."

"I grew up man, come on!"

Silence filled the room as rain started to fall from the sky. From the hospital room, they could see the Hokage tower, and the many black spots on the roof. Orochimaru lost and fled, leaving Suna behind, betrayed, hurt and alone. The team of the jinchuriki was still in T&I from what Haku had told them, interrogated again and again about Orochimaru, their plan and where they stood as the late Kazekage's children. People talked a lot in the hospital hallways, a lot more than in Kiri's hospital, and they knew the Kazekage's body had been found in the desert of the Land of Wind. Konoha was pressuring Suna to fully surrender by having those three, yet nothing would be really done until they found the Fifth Hokage.

Two days passed with no amelioration. The five shinobi of the Mist took turns in keeping Akane company, under Itachi's watchful eye who was still on his mission.

"Dai, remember what we discussed," Mangetsu growled to his friend, who was in a staring contest with Shisui. Behind the Uchiha, Itachi sighed.

"Shisui, they're her teammates."

"I know Itachi, I'm not looking for troubles." Shisui replied idly, onyx eyes slowly looking away from angry emerald green. "I'm just visiting my friend, it's not as if I had ever done anything to hurt her." Dai clenched his fist and glared at the Uchiha, who was provoking him on purpose.

"Hey, can I see my sister or what?" Naruto interrupted them in a deadpanned voice. His eyes glanced at single one of them and he frowned, crossing his arms in disapproval. For a second Itachi thought he had Kushina in front of him. "Sakura-chan said crowding around an injured person isn't good, so what are you doing?"

"Naruto is right, what are you all doing in my daughter's room?" a polite yet slightly frightening voice asked sweetly, and Akiko's smile made all of them shiver unconsciously. Naruto snorted with a smug grin as they all left. In the hallway, the two Uchiha walked away.

"What did you expect, she was Uzumaki-san's wife, of course she can pull off the frightening card," they heard the swordsman say. Itachi and Shisui frowned. Akane never talked about her father, yet those two seemed to know him but not personally, more like two shinobi who knew about someone's strength.

In Akane's room, Naruto sat quietly next to her, his aunt at the foot of the bed. She had not tried to keep him away from the fight against Gaara and instead let him and Haku handle it. He also knew she had bet on his victory against Neji and he could not help but feel warm inside at the idea his sister still had faith in him even though she was cold to him, was trying to put some distance. He was hurt at first, and tried his best to impress her in the preliminaries, yet he could not care less now. It was annoying to see Shisui and her teammate Dai glaring at each other when they were in the same room, but all Naruto wanted right now was to hear his sister's voice.

"Aunty, what does nee-chan have exactly?"

"Severe chakra exhaustion and she's frozen from the inside," she replied immediately, "her kekkai genkai provoked it, she must have used it to try to counter something. She has been reckless to use it like th..."

"Kekkai genkai?" Naruto repeated slowly. "What's that?"

"Well, it's a capacity transmit by bloodline. For instance, we have dōjutsu, visual kekkai genkai like the Byakugan that runs within the Hyuuga clan, or the Sharingan of the Uchiha clan. But there are also elemental kekkai genkai, it..."

"Haku said they were hunted down in the Land of Water Aunty, and people who had them were scared," the genin interrupted her and worry engulfed him when his aunt's eyes flashed with pain, "is that an Uzumaki kekkai genkai?"

"No, it's from her father's side. Haku, did he tell you his..."

"He uses ice, he blocked Gaara with it during our fight."

"And...Akane showed some kind of particular interest in him?"

"He said she saved him on the bridge, why?"

"They're probably related." Naruto widened his eyes at that. "In the Land of Water, even if you can have an Ice Release on your own, the Yuki clan was known for it."

"Yeah, that's what he said!"

"Then they are related, distantly or not. Her father...was half Uzumaki, his father was from the Yuki clan and Akane inherited the Ice Release, like Fubuki had before her. The hunts Haku mentioned are the reason why we left Kiri when she was one."

"Nee-chan was born there?"

"Yes. I'm sorry Naruto, there is a lot of things you don't know about our past, but..."

"That's okay. You didn't say anything to protect me 'ttebayo!" Naruto grinned at her to ease her worried and guilty face. "Just...just tell me when you're ready, I'll wait!" Akiko smile tiredly at him and ruffled his blond hair.

"You've grown even more during these Exams huh? You're getting stronger and stronger. Do you want me to teach you more about seals?"

"Hum...I don't wanna fight with them!"

"Oh, why?"

"That's nee-chan's thing! When Suigetsu tried to continue his fight with Bushy Brows, she used your Immobility Seal but not on them, on the floor! Shikamaru said it was like the old version of his Shadow Imitation Technique, and then Kakashi-sensei said it was expected of a Seal Master to be able to do that kind of things because seals have the potential to recreate any techniques that exist."

"You really remembered all that?"

"Hehe," Naruto started and rubbed his nose with his finger in pride, "I'm still an Uzumaki, I know stuff about seals!"

"Yo!" The two Uzumakis looked at the open window, where Jiraya was standing. "Still no amelioration? I have a solution, Naruto you have to follow me to find the Fifth Hokage!"

"Heh...but what if nee-chan wakes up?"

"Didn't you hear what I said? I have a solution, and it's the woman who'll be the Fifth Hokage. It's exactly who you think it is Akiko," Jiraya said as Akiko widened her eyes and gaped at him.

"But I want Kakashi-sensei to teach me the Chidori too! Sasuke showed it to me yesterday!"

"I see...well maybe I should go get Sasuke. Too bad, I know a technique way stronger than the Chido..."

"A stronger one!?" Naruto yelled excitedly, running toward the Sannin. "Teach me Pervy Sage, teach me!"

"Yes, yes, go pac..."

"I'm sorry, do I bother you?" They froze at the threat lingering in Akiko's voice. They slowly looked at her and Naruto paled when he saw the dark aura around his aunt. "Last time I checked, Naruto was under my responsibility, genin or not. You should ask _me_ too, Jiraya-san."

"Can I Aunty?"

"Of course, go pack your bag, and if the genin behind the door wants to come too then let him, you'll deal with his parents Jiraya-san."

"I haven't set a foot in that part of the village for years," Jiraya chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head as Naruto opened the door, catching Sasuke just before he ran away.

"Yo Sasuke, we're gonna get the Fifth Hokage!" Naruto said, catching his best friend in a chokehold.

"Wai...Wait idiot I can't breath!"

"You will take care of them Jiraya-san?"

"Yeah, no way I'm letting Minato's and Kushina's son and the little Uchiha in danger. Who knows who can be lurking around...stay on your guards."

"Of course, have a safe trip."

Jiraya left in a puff of smoke.

In the afternoon, Mangetsu was walking in the village. Dai stayed at the hospital and he was supposed to pick up the genin from T&I, something about them finally being done with interrogation. He was pretty sure the Uchiha he was with when he found Uzu was following him too. It was understandable anyway, from the tensions there used to be and the situation of Konoha at the moment, they could try something.

The swordsman sighed. He wanted to leave Konoha as soon as they could, yet he had a bad feeling lingering in his mind. Being on a team with an Uzumaki meant a lot of unexpected things exploding into your face. And as he wandered through the quiet streets of Konoha, he was trying to figure out what was going to happen.

He ended near a river, the sun reflecting itself on the motionless surface of the water. The quietness of Konoha a few days after the attack was slightly unnerving him. He understood the village government was a mess, but shouldn't they track down Orochimaru? The borders were important, but still.

Mangetsu stopped in his steps and frowned. There was something in the air, something vaguely familiar. It was...chakra? No, it was too faint to be it. So wha...

"Please don't," the long-haired Uchiha told him sternly as he jumped in front of him.

"Why?"

"We are currently dealing with it."

"What?" Mangetsu droned. He stared straight in the Uchiha's eyes, and when he spotted the first sparks of red, liquefied himself and mixed himself in the river. He heard the Uchiha running after him but he didn't care, because he knew what he felt.

Samehada was not far away. It was a particular sword within the Seven, the one which was basically alive and had a personality of its own. Mangetsu had wielded it perfectly before Kisame left Kiri, and now he was feeling it near.

Hoshigaki Kisame was in Konoha.

Why would he be in Konoha?

When Mangetsu heard voices, he jumped out of the water and shot water bullet at his senpai, who barely managed to stop them. He didn't waste time and charged, blocking Samehada between the two blades of Kabutowari.

"You..." Kisame started but Mangetsu took Samehada and jumped behind the two Konoha jounin with it. He put Kabutowari away and felt Samehada getting excited in his hands.

"I know, it's been a while," Mangetsu whispered to it before grinning at Kisame, "hey, how are you doing Kisame-senpai?"

"I would be better if you gave me Samehada back, Mangetsu," Kisame replied dryly, baring his sharp teeth in a toothy grin. Grin Mangetsu reciprocated. The shark man took his straw hat off and glared at the younger swordsman.

"Kisame...as in Hoshigaki Kisame?" Asuma asked without averting his eyes from Kisame. "Pretty famous in the Bingo Book, you went as far as trying to kill a Daimyo, didn't you?"

"I knew you'd be the first one to be recognized," the other man, half a head shorter than Kisame, noted dully as Itachi appeared next to Mangetsu, sharingan burning in his eyes.

"Asuma-san, Kurenai-san, please report the situation to the higher-up immediately." They just had to see Itachi's sharingan spinning lazily in his eyes to leave.

"I hope they're gonna get the Hatake brat, I have a score to settle with him."

"What, you actually want to get in a fight?" Kisame inquired curiously. "Do you want to clear up your name after the kid's defeat against the puppet?" Mangetsu scowled. Kisame was the man Uzu's opponent had mentioned after all, and from the coat he was wearing he must have told things about any strong shinobi in Kiri. But clear up _his_ name?

Mangetsu cursed in his head against the trouble magnets Uzumakis were when the man took off his hat. Short brown spiky hair, like Naruto but even shorter, brown eyes and a slashed Kiri forehead protector, like Kisame. He was...pretty average if it wasn't for the fact his face was known in all Kiri and caused nightmares to his female teammate, and the slight discoloration in his left eye.

"Uzumaki...Ushio," Mangetsu muttered with wide eyes, and Ushio snorted with indifference as Itachi twitched at the name.

"I guess I'm still known in the village. It's surprising knowing Yagura must have buried everything related to me and made Akane the sole 'worthy' person of the Uzumaki name. He always said I should be prouder of that damned name when I didn't even wear my father's name," Ushio stated dully, brown eyes flickering quickly to Itachi. "Heh...you make me think of someone I fought in the Second War, the guy got a name for himself during the third one I think."

"What are you doing here?" the Swordsman asked him.

"I was quite impressed to learn who her teammates were, I never would have thought you three would end up in a team together. Yagura has a wicked sense of humor after all." Ushio closed his right eye when he noticed the pattern of Itachi's sharingan changing and smirked at him. "My, you think your petty little sharingan will work on me? I've fought Uchihas before and learned, unlike how the Uchiha clan seemed to absolutely always rely on their eyes. So so dumb." For a brief instant, Itachi thought he was listening to Akane. This man was her father, there was no doubt about it. He was a missing-nin and in his village. He was responsible for Akane's traumas, even if he didn't know the nature of said traumas he knew that he was the reason, the absence of any picture of him at Akiko's was enough proof for him.

"Uchiha, don't try to fight him, except if you've already fought against an expert in fuinjutsu who was a candidate for the post of Fourth Mizukage." Itachi glanced at Mangetsu and frowned. Akane's father was powerful enough to be considered as the Fourth Mizukage, yet he defected? What was the story behind all this? "I know you're skilled but if your sharingan doesn't work like he implied you won't last, trust me on that.

"And you?" Itachi shot back and he felt an uneasy feeling creeping up inside of him when he got a negative shake of the head as an answer.

"He was friends with my parents, he knows how my clan techniques work."

"You're damn right about that!" Ushio laughed rudely at the comment. "Anyway...oh, Kakashi, how are you?" the man purred as he turned his head to look at a pissed off Hatake Kakashi, who had his own sharingan ready.

"You have nothing to do here Ushio-san, what do you want?" Kakashi only got a smirk as answer and he grabbed his right forearm tightly, bluish lightning growing in his hand. "If you came here to finish your work..."

"First of all, that trick didn't work on me the first time, it won't work now," the Uzumaki said with a sadistic pleasure at Kakashi's growing anger, "second of all, I don't care about my daughter now, especially in the state she's currently in. She shouldn't use kinjutsu so lightly. Last of all, I want to meet the latest addition to my family, are you gonna deny me that?"

"So the Akatsuki wants Naruto?" Kakashi asked him darkly and the two missing-nin stared coldly at him.

"Now, that's an interesting development Ushio-san. Should we take him down?" Some police officers, including a red-eyed Uchiha Fugaku, joined Kakashi.

"We're outnumbered, a fight here against many Uchihas, Kakashi and Mangetsu would not be good now Kisame. We'll leave," Ushio answered coldly, "sorry, Samehada will stay here."

"Wh-" Kisame did not finish his sentence as Ushio teleported both of them away. Kakashi and Fugaku shared a glance.

"Fucking Hiraishin," Mangetsu muttered.

"Kakashi, you should follow them," Fugaku told the jounin who was dispersing his jutsu, "Naruto and Sasuke are with Jiraya-sama right now, but still. Go and tell them, I'll take responsibility for sending you out if it's necessary."

"Understood." Kakashi left in a body flicker.

"Father, why..."

"Jiraya-sama left to seek Tsunade-sama so that she could become the Fifth and heal Akane," his father replied sternly.

Itachi followed Mangetsu as he walked stiffly back to the hospital. He opened the door to Akane's room without a care in the world, where her team and the medic were with Akiko.

"Mangetsu, is that...Samehada?" Suigetsu asked his brother slowly and blinked.

"Guess what guys, I've just seen Kisame-senpai about to leave Konoha with her dad!"

"What did you just say?" Dai asked him almost in a whisper and Itachi noticed the color leaving Akiko's face. "Ushio...that guy was there?"

"Ye..."

"Did he say why?" Akiko pipped up with a dark glint in her eyes.

"Naruto, they want Naruto," Itachi murmured and he regretted telling her when she nodded and left in a puff of white smoke.

"I think you fucked up Uchiha, go tell your superiors about Akiko-san," Dai told him. Itachi nodded but his dark gaze lingered on the sleeping form of Akane. "What?"

"He said he didn't care about her _now_ ," Itachi whispered and Dai widened his eyes, glancing at Mangetsu for confirmation. The Swordsman gloomily nodded.

"Tomorrow morning, I'm leaving for Kiri with Uzu's team. You stay here with her as the medic. I need to report Ushio's reappearance to the Mizukage asap."

"Aneki and Naoto will be worried sick," the medic mumbled, "fuck it."

* * *

" _Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you, trouble twins! Happy birthday to you!" We all sang together, Boruto clapping excitedly on his mother's laps as I walked in with a big chocolate cake. I knew Sasuke would leave for a very long mission soon, and I was glad he taught my kids the Great Fireball Technique, even if Shisui was frustrated because he couldn't do it. He...might have inherited more from me than I thought._

" _Yosh!" Naruto yelled and pointed his finger toward Kakashi, who raised his eyebrows. "Kakashi-sensei, you're the Hokage, cut the cake!"_

" _It's not a part of the jo..." Akiko's bottom lip started to quiver as her big black eyes were getting watery. "I...will, fine I will, Akane give me that knife." Akiko grinned at her uncle figure and actually winked at Sasuke before sitting back next to him. Sasuke smirked at his niece and poked her forehead as I rolled my eyes._

" _Was it how it was with oji-chan?" I mumbled and sat down next to my son, who was frowning. "Hey, the plate didn't do anything to harm you and I'm sure it would be sorry if it was the case," I whispered to him with a playful smile. He started and looked up at me. "Come on, you're seven today, smile for your old mother?" He shot me a toothy grin I knew was fake._

 _The atmosphere was nice for the rest of the afternoon. Sarada and Himawari were both asleep up stairs, Hinata keeping an eye on them and Shisui was playing with Boruto, leaving the adults talking between them. Until a small hand wrapped itself around Sasuke's wrist._

" _What is it Akiko?" her uncle asked her softly as she was rocking back and forth on her feet._

" _It's my birthday...can you tell me? About my dad Uncle Sasuke?" Everybody froze at the question and Naruto peeked at me, who was staring at my daughter with wide eyes._

" _Why do you wanna know Aki?" her brother asked her harshly as he walked next to her. "Why do you wanna hear things about a murderer?"_

" _Shisui..." I whispered faintly and his angry black eyes found mine._

" _What mom? Everybody in Konoha say Uchiha Itachi was a murderer. It's because of him if Sarada and us don't have grandparents. He was a murderer, nothing more, nothing less!" he screamed at me and my hand started to shake on my thigh at the small tears gathering at the corner of his eyes. "Even if he was alive, he wouldn't care about us like he didn't care about_ you _!"_

" _Shisui, don't talk to your mother like that!" Sakura scolded him as she stood up abruptly, her chair falling in the process._

" _I don't care, Uchiha Itachi was a useless piece of trash who didn't care about others but himself! I hate him and..."_

 _I stared in shock at my son, who cradled his reddening cheek in his hand. His eyes, his beautiful eyes,_ Itachi's eyes _, stared back at me with tears of pain running down his face._

" _I hate you!" he yelled in anger and ran away. I started to go after him but Naruto stopped me. He grinned at me and wiped a lonely tear from my cheek with his real thumb._

" _We're taking care of it with Sasuke, Akiko needs you 'ttebayo." With that and Sasuke nodding to me, they were gone. It was at that moment I heard Boruto's muffled sobs behind me, that Sakura heard too as she picked him up and went upstairs. I finally took a look at my daughter, who was hiding her face in Kakashi-san's flak jacket._

" _Oh my god Aki, please look at me, mommy is so sorry," I whispered to her as I knelt next to her. I stretched out my hand to run it through her hair but stopped an inch from it. Slowly, she turned watery eyes to me and it broke my heart._

" _Un...Uncle Sasuke and Naruto-oji said Daddy would have loved us," she stuttered in a small voice, "they were lying?"_

" _No, of course not, Daddy would have loved you with all his heart and I'm sure he's watching over you right now," I told her quickly, warping her in a hug._

" _And he loved you too right?"_

" _He...told me he did once," I confessed dully. But it had never been enough, I wasn't enough to make him fight. Sasuke was more important._

 _I raised my eyes when Kakashi's patted my head with a comforting smile. I hugged my daughter tighter. When Shisui came back, he jumped in my arms in tears, saying he was sorry and that he just wanted a daddy like everybody else._

 _Only God knew how much I wanted to have their daddy with us too._

* * *

"How did that guy train you for the finals again?" Sasuke asked Naruto as he was carefully drawing an explosive tag.

"He made me sign a summoning contract and then he spied on girls that Pervy Sage!" Naruto exclaimed loudly, flailing his arms around him. "How are we gonna find the woman who'll heal nee-chan and train if he lets us in an hotel room!?"

"It was weird from the moment he said he'd teach you something more powerful than the Chidori."

"Hey, it's not fair Kakashi-sensei teach you that and refuses to teach me too!"

"You don't have a lightning affinity moron, and you need the Sharingan to perfectly execute it."

"Sharingan this, and Sharingan that..." Naruto repeated in a high-pitched voice, which got him a glare from the young Uchiha.

Someone knocked on their door, stopping their bickering. They looked at each other and Sasuke stood up to put his ear on the door. He couldn't hear anything. As a reflex, he activated his sharingan, knowing that if Jiraya ordered them not to open the door it was for a good reason. The Uchiha noticed shadow under the door and widened his eyes, pulling Naruto with him to the wall when his eyes saw the door infused with chakra. A second later, it exploded.

"You know, they say the Bakkuton is a kekkai genkai but from the moment you know how to make explosive seals out of your hands it's pretty much laughable, don't you agree?" The cheerful voice didn't get any answer and the genin glanced at each other. "Come on Kisame, we couldn't waste time to get Samehada back! Don't pout!"

"If we had started a real fight we would have Ushio-san," the other man, Kisame...sulked?

"Anyway!" the first man stated, looking at them with a toothy grin. "Ah, the blond one is definitely Kushina's son, he has her face! Come on, give us the fox now Naruto."

"The fox?" Sasuke repeated quietly, unaware of the terror written on Naruto's face.

"Come with us and we won't hurt baby Uchiha over there," the man continued. "Come on Naruto, Akiko raised you better than that! Introduce you properly to your uncle!"

The two genin widened their eyes.

This was Akane's father in front of them, and all Sasuke could think of was what she had told him on her brother's grave. It was the man who killed his own son, and now he was there for Naruto. Without thinking, Sasuke created a chidori in his hand charged.

Straight to an S-rank missing-nin.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :)**

 **Nevvy:** **Thanks for the reviews :) The Uchiha has a name, don't you worry, and Hinata wasn't in the hospital but in the infirmary of the stadium. as for Konoha in Kiri? We'll see, but I have everything planned in my mind already :)**

 **Bye !**


	32. Konoha Hospital Arc: Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 12/13**

 **Shisui: 21**

 **Kakashi: 26**

* * *

"Sasuke!" Naruto screamed as Sasuke was dropped on the floor. His eyes were wide open and moving, showing he was still awake, but paralyzed because of the black symbols on his body. "That's Aunty's..."

"I know my wife's seals Naruto, it's obvious. Please tell me you're more intelligent than that. Kisame, make sure the Uchiha brat doesn't try to move."

"I..."

"Seriously," Ushio sighed, "just follow us and I will release your friend."

Naruto looked down at Sasuke, who was trying to make him understand he was lying, yet Naruto walked out of the room through the destroyed door. Ushio smiled happily, sending shivers down the jinchuriki's back. His throat was dry and painful, his blue eyes not leaving those of his 'uncle'. What did they want with the Kyuubi? Where was the Pervy Sage!?

"You're annoying Kakashi, do you know that?" Ushio mumbled, turning around to face a pissed off Kakashi.

"Sensei!" Kakashi looked at Naruto, and then at Sasuke on the floor and set his flaming sharingan on Ushio and Kisame.

"I won't let you take him." Ushio raised an eyebrow and ran to him, throwing a punch Kakashi avoided.

Naruto watched them exchanging blows. Kakashi was reading Ushio's movement with his sharingan, yet he stopped and Naruto widened his eyes at the chains coming out of Ushio's left hand and blocking his sensei. Ushio hit Kakashi under his chin with his knee and harshly grabbed his face, staring straight in the Hatake's eyes.

"It's quite a gift Obito left you, and Rin did a great job at implanting it in a cave," Ushio purred and Kakashi glared at him at the mention of his dead teammates. "Yet you're still weak." The Uzumaki grabbed his head and Naruto tried to help his sensei when black symbols appeared on his head and seemed to melt into his skin. "He won't bother us an..."

Ushio jumped back to them, an enormous white wolf with black eyes baring his fangs at him. Ushio scoffed, not impressed, and averted his eyes to the woman checking on Kakashi. The smile of pure glee dancing on his lips made Naruto's blood boil, especially when his aunt, sweet, loving aunty, gave such a hateful glare to the man who was supposed to be her husband.

"Heh, I don't have a welcome kiss?"

"You're not gonna touch a single hair of Naruto's head Ushio."

"Why are you such a joy killer?" he whined. "If it wasn't for his birth, your dear cousin would be alive today! We both know that!" Akiko tried her best to avoid the broken look in Naruto's eyes, instead focusing on the deranged man in front of her.

"Whoever made you join that Akatsuki thing kept you up to date when they freed you."

"And what if I freed myself?" Akiko raised a brow at that.

"Did you? Even in stasis?" Ushio sent her a toothy grin.

"You..." Ushio never finished his sentence as a puff of smoke appeared behind them. Jiraya revealed himself with his exuberant introduction, where the only reaction he got was silence.

"Pervy Sage where were you 'ttebayo!?" Naruto screamed and pointed an accusing finger at him. "How could you leave us alone for a woman!?"

"Intel Naruto, Intel!" Jiraya refuted, the toad under his feet leaving. He put a sleeping woman against the wall and took the situation in. Sasuke was down by a seal, Kisame holding him firmly by the throat inches from the floor. Naruto was barely keeping it together, his eyes filled with fear and guilt. Guilt? Jiraye pushed that aside for later and glanced at Kakashi, unconscious on the floor and Akiko trying to wake him up, her summon Gaku growling in front of them.

"Okay, it's that kind of day, isn't it? Where there is some kind of big old reunion?"

"You look annoyed Ushio-san," Kisame remarked dryly, "if I had Samehada we would win."

"First of all, no, we wouldn't. Second of all, drop it with your dog sword!" They were gone in an Hiraishin and Jiraya swore in his head. How did Ushio learn the Hiraishin? He didn't know it when Minato sealed him away, and the only scroll teaching the technique was in Akane's possession, there was no way she would have seen him without telling them...right?

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled as Jiraya got rid of Sasuke's seal. His aunt placed him on her wolf's back.

"I need to get him to the hospital immediately, Ushio put a seal on his brain. I need medical assistance." She jumped on Gaku.

"Aunty...he..."

"Go get Tsunade Naruto, we'll talk later. Don't believe everything that mad man said, okay? I'll see you later, after you've saved your sister."

He nodded and with one last smile for her nephew, she left.

"So we need that Tsunade for Kakashi too now?" Sasuke grumbled as he used the wall to stand up. "He was beaten so fast, and those chains..."

"It's an Uzumaki hidden technique, and Kakashi let some of his anger blind him way too much for someone his caliber, it was his own mistake. Hoshigaki Kisame was one of the Seven Swordsman and Ushio was almost the Fourth Mizukage," Jiraya said, quickly checking Sasuke for any rest of the seal.

"Fourth Mizukage," the Uchiha repeated hollowly.

"He's not worthy of such a title," Naruto muttered angrily.

Jiraya stared at the back of his student. _'Neither is Karatachi Yagura, yet he has been the Mizukage for the past ten years,'_ he thought, knowing that if the Resistance in Kiri was so well organized it was not because it was some random shinobi in it. It was important, powerful members of the Hidden Mist who were tired of the bloody reign of Yagura.

* * *

She was pale.

It was the first thing Shisui noticed when he saw her on the lake with one of her genin. She was paler than before, had dark bags under her eyes and her entire demeanor was tense and distant. Her eyes were showing a turmoil that seemed to have been eating her from the inside for a while. Actually, she started to have those eyes when she was still in Konoha, ever since she discovered Kiri had had an interaction with Konoha. Maybe he should have killed that Mangetsu after all.

She would have hated him though. He still remembered the relief in her hug at knowing that man was alive.

Akane saved his life and his clan by saying how dangerous Danzo was, he would not pay her back by killing someone she...cared about. Even if Shisui knew he would never be able to pay her back knowing how it changed everything. It was the Butterfly Effect. By saving _him_ , she sealed her fate in Kiri, she bounded herself to a lifestyle she told him she hated. It was when they were children and did not know each other well, but he knew it did not change.

Maybe she did not think it would do much to her, following him to Konoha, yet she did it to save him. In a corner of his mind, he wondered why. They became friends and spent a lot of time together during the year she spent in Konoha, but that was it. A year.

He never asked her anything about her past life, he only knew what he saw. Itachi the _Clan Killer_ , him being a part of the Akatsuki and some of the times when they were together. Shisui clenched his fists on his pants. Did any of them actually realize how hollow their eyes were when Itachi was leaving? It was...infuriating because of his own feelings toward Akane, but it was painful to see her memories and witness these two being fully aware their relationship would cause more pain than happiness in the end and yet Itachi came back every time.

That version of Itachi...was selfish in a way, and he was sure Akane never realized it. He was colder, much more colder, yet there was a spark of the Itachi Shisui knew when he was with her. That was what old Itachi was seeking, to feel like he had not completely lost himself.

However, his Itachi had awakened his Mangekyou when he thought he saw her died without him doing anything because of his position. Shisui saw how it was eating his cousin away for the past two years, and even if Akane was now in Kiri, he saw how Itachi was relieved to see her alive. Not necessarily fine, but alive.

Shisui sighed and shot a broken look at his sleeping friend. She was not fine. He knew they were not from the same village, he knew she had a tough role to play, he knew she was not allowed to be friendly with him. He was not stupid, he knew very well all of that. Yet, when he saw her, he had to talk to her, ask her what happened during the past two years. She had never said anything about Kiri except it was awful, but now she almost looked...dedicated to a village she hated.

Why?

He wanted to ask her so many things. What happened? Why that change of mind? Did she need help? Was there anything he could do to see some warmth in her eyes again? Could she forgive him for being weak and needing her help to save his life and his eyes, his clan? Could she forgive him for being the reason she had to be a kunoichi again?

The Uchiha rested his head on her mattress, between his arms. On the nightstand, the petal of one of the flowers he brought her fell. Pink cyclamen. It was all he would probably be able to do to prove her he loved her for now.

If only...if only she could let him get close. She never did, she always...in a way, he knew she was trying to protect him, and Itachi too. She still knew things and she didn't want the changes she made to go to waste. She was...so obvious sometimes. He could find a way to communicate with her if only she was willing to ask him. He would help her in the blink of an eye, if only _she_ was willing to ask. He hated the pain in her brown eyes, he wanted to make it all go away, make her come back to Konoha and maybe, maybe try to convince her he could take care of her.

If only she asked for help for whatever was happening in Kiri she was involved in. She helped without him asking and no matter how much he wished to do the same, he couldn't. It was frustrating him. His worry over her well being and her refusal to let him get close to her were frustrating to the point where his worry was driving him mad. It was not often Shisui's worry turned into anger, but the Uchihas felt emotions a lot more violently than other people. He could feel his blood boiling in his veins when he remembered how she introduced herself as if they didn't know each other, how even Itachi was frustrated to the point where he almost raised his voice against him.

She knew they cared about her, right? Then if she just could let them get close like before!

Shisui groaned and looked up at her sleeping face. One way or another, he would get her back and protect her. If she hated fighting and being a kunoichi, then he would make sure she would not be one.

He got her out of Kiri once.

One way or another, he would do it again.

Once she was awake, because she _was_ going to wake up, he would talk to her. He would not let her run away like she did before.

"Shisui." He turned his head to the door, where Itachi was standing, his lips set in a thin line. "Akiko-san came back with Kakashi-san in a bad state, they...they fought against her father."

"Is he that strong?" he asked quietly, even if he knew Akane would not wake up.

"I don't know, it didn't feel like it. He was...average but..."

"Looking average is the best way to hide your skills as a shinobi," Shisui whispered.

"Jiraya-sama, Sasuke and Naruto will bring Tsunade-sama back," Itachi said, his onyx eyes lingering on Akane.

"They better hurry."

"Shisui...you do know once she's fine she will leave again, right?" Itachi did not like the glint in his cousin's eyes. "We can't force her to stay, you will let her leave, right?"

"I know I can't do anything, but I don't want to hear she's dead six months after it happened during a mission. I want to keep her safe."

"So do I," Itachi said, averting his eyes to his cousin, "but it doesn't change the fact she will have to leave. Dai-san will make sure she's fine."

"Will he? Will they?" the oldest Uchiha asked darkly and Itachi sighed.

"They care about her and you know it. You can't always be there for her."

"But wha..."

"Shisui, she was trained by the Fourth Mizukage and he kept her alive, she is skilled. Her teammate told me she was too stubborn to die anyway."

"And you believe him?"

"Yes, because they know her skills more than us, they know the shinobi side of her more than us and it's enough for me."

He left, silently closing the door behind him and Shisui smirked wryly. If Itachi knew about Akane's special condition and how she had been the mother of his children, he would be even more protective of her than him.

One day he would be.

Because one day Itachi would know. He would put the pieces together, and be angry at them, and look at Akane with a new light in his eyes.

His relationship with Izumi had been having troubles since the Chuunin Exams after all.

Maybe that even if he was in love with her, Itachi and Akane would find a way to each other.

It was the most painful of all. Being in love with a girl that would probably end up with his best friend, who would love her as much as he did.

Life was complicated.

* * *

" _Let me! Let me kill_ _that asshole!" I screamed at the Uchiha's face, wasn't his name Itachi?_

" _He'd kill you," he stated flatly and I shot him a hateful glare._

" _So what, I don't have anything left! Let me kill him Uchiha! Let me! Let me go god dammit!" I kept fidgeting, fighting back so that this asshole of an Uchiha let go of me yet his arms didn't budge. Was I that rusty? I left Kiri four years ago only, was I really that rusty?_

" _Itachi-san, why don't you let the kid play with Sasori? It's not that important," Hoshigaki-san piped up and I bared my teeth at him. "Oh, I'm almost scared."_

" _Kisame," Itachi told him sternly and my eyes found the Sasori's brown ones. I didn't even feel like he was looking at me but through me._

" _If the girl wants to fight me I'll give her a quick death. She could be useful as a puppet after all."_

" _You fucking piece of shit!" Hoshigaki-san burst into laughter and I thought about freezing the Uchiha but he abruptly turned me to him, his fingers around my forearm almost digging into my skin. "Wh..." I didn't finish because I was lost in a sea of red. I lost consciousness._

 _When I woke up, Sasori was not here anymore, nor his loud and stupid blond teammate. Instead, it was nighttime and I heard a deep voice telling Hohigaki-san to go get some wood. I sat up and glanced at Itachi with hollow eyes._

" _You were Shisui's friend," I said quietly, "the one I mistook for a girl when I was five. Itachi, wasn't it? Itachi the Clan Killer who only left poor little Sasuke alive?" He didn't say anything. He just kept staring blankly at me and I could feel a question burning on the tip of my tongue. Something I wanted, needed to know for the past four years. "Did you kill him too?"_

" _Who?" he finally answered coldly after an uncomfortable pause._

" _Shisui, did you kill him too? I had a letter saying he killed himself, but he didn't show any signs...did you kill him?" I hated how broken I sounded, but I could remember his grin as he left for Konoha, leaving me hanging on a promise he broke. He wouldn't have killed himself. He..._

" _Why do you need to know?" he asked, still as emotionless as before._

" _He promised me something and he doesn't...didn't seem like the kind of guy to break a promise like that and he...I know he trusted you he...he was too strong to be killed like that."_

" _What would you do if I said I killed him?"_

" _I'd die trying to avenge him probably," I chuckled dryly, the idea of going up against Uchiha Itachi so laughable to me. "Just answer the question, did you kill him?"_

" _He killed himself," he told me and I screw my eyes shut, Shisui's grin flashing in my mind. He wouldn't have...why? Why? WHY!? "He never said anything showing signs of depression."_

" _Is that supposed to make me feel better?" I scoffed, my angry eyes meeting his unreadable ones._

" _No. Why do you even care?"_

" _None of your business." I got up. "Why did you stop me?"_

" _Sasori would have killed you."_

" _So what?" I inquired coldly. He just kept staring at me flatly._

" _I can't have you killed." I raised a brow at that and clenched my fists. What, his sharingan were not enough, he wanted a little mixed-blood with him too? "Shisui asked me to keep an eye on you, to keep you safe." I frowned and glared._

" _When?"_

" _Before he jumped off the cliff." My heart missed a beat and I was quickly grasping the stupid high collar of his coat._

" _You were there?" I hissed quietly, cold yet burning anger lingering in my voice. "You didn't stop him?" It seemed like it reached him a little because I swear I saw his lips twitched a little._

" _He didn't listen to me," he admitted through clenched teeth and grabbed my hands to make me let go of his coat._

" _So you tried?" He didn't answer but his eyes were enough for me. He tried and failed. I let go of his coat and slapped his hand away. "So now what?" He blinked at me and ever so slowly, raised an eyebrow with fucking elegance at my question._

" _I'm sorry?"_

" _You kept me from getting killed by the puppet and Shisui asked you to keep me safe, now what? Do I have to stay with you? I'll make sushi out of your partner you know, I still resent him for kidnapping me." Itachi clearly had no idea what I was talking about and I wasn't about to tell him anything. I rolled my eyes. "Can I leave or do I stay? I have nowhere to go and nobody's waiting for me."_

" _You're not scared of staying with two S-rank missing-nin?" I laughed at that._

" _If Hoshigaki-san wanted me dead, I'd be dead! He left Kiri so I don't have to worry about him giving me to them, and you're definitely not as mean as you want to make yourself look." I had a kunai at my throat and he frowned at my lack of fear. Instead, I smirked. Yagura...was worst than Itachi at the moment. "Shisui trusted you 'till the end, I don't know what kind of shit happened in Konoha, but you're not a psychopath killer Uchiha. But please go on, kill me, I won't mind. As I said, I don't have anything left. That fucking shinobi system keep taking in good people and spit them out broken, leaving the families to deal with the aftermath." I grabbed his wrist and made the kunai dig deeper in the tender flesh of my neck, warm blood trickling down my shirt._

" _Why don't you just go to Konoha and take care of Naruto?" I blinked. Naruto? Who was that Naruto? Ramen? Did he...Oh right, Naruto. Their son. My...cousin._

" _I won't go to Konoha without political affiliation and that old Danzo guy still around. I'm not dumb enough to be forced to fight for another village." He frowned and seemed to think about something very hard for a second._

" _He tried to recruit you when you were in Konoha because you're an Uzumaki," he stated blandly, retreating his kunai. I shrugged, it wasn't as if Konoha was any better than another Hidden Village, they were all greedy when it came to power after all. Konoha was better at hiding it._

" _Still here kid?" I rolled my eyes at Hoshigaki-san when he walked back to us._

" _She'll stay with us," Itachi declared, shooting a side glance at the shark. Said shark raised his brows up to his hairline._

" _Leader-sama won't be happy."_

" _Are you going to tell him?"_

 _Hoshigaki-san stared at me, seemingly musing over my case. "She is a real ray of sunshine to have around if I remember well. Until she tries to freeze you to death."_

" _I'm sorry, did I kidnap you to force you into being a shinobi under a tyrant?" He laughed as if I was a jester, so I glared. Again._

" _Still angry about that?"_

" _Geez, even if I turned you into sushi I bet it would expired anyway."_

" _Enough," Itachi ordered us coldly._

 _Great, my life was just getting better and better every single day._

* * *

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled once the fight was over between the Sannin. His friend was squirming in pain in the grass, Jiraya next to him and his hand firmly clenched on his neck. The snake, Orochimaru, had actually bit him. Who would bite people in the middle of a fight!?

"Shizune!" Tsunade barked at her assistance, who nodded and ran to the Uchiha. "Brat, you're alright?"

"Yeah, but Sasuke..."

"What the..." Jiraya started before jumping away with Shizune when purple chakra surrounded Sasuke.

There was no screams of pain anymore. Sasuke got up, rocks detaching themselves from the ground and floating around him from the pressure the purple chakra was exerting. Naruto widened his eyes at the marks covering half of Sasuke's face, his sharingan shining brightly in his eyes. Eyes set firmly on Naruto.

"Naruto..." Sasuke rasped in a voice...terribly dark, darker than the usual annoyance he was showing to his teammates. He barely made a step that Jiraya knocked him out and placed a seal on his, the purple chakra disappearing.

"Pervy Sage..."

"Orochimaru left a mark on the kid, we need to go back to Konoha right now. Damn, this trip is cursed!"

"The Uchiha clan might kill you for letting this happen to their kid you know," Tsunade reminded him and he sighed. He was in deep shit now, he just knew it. "Let's go then, I also have the heal Akiko's kid, right?" Naruto sheepishly looked up at her.

"You know Aunty?"

"Yeah, I also knew Ushio, the old and nice one. It's a shame how he turned out."

* * *

" _Huh? You're...back?"_

" _Hn."_

" _Yeah, nice to see you too buddy," I snorted with irony, dropping my dish towel next to the sink. "As you can see, I still live here. I turned nineteen, I'm still alive and I heard your brother left to go to Orochimaru?"_

" _Yes," Itachi confirmed quietly, a frown on his face. "Naruto left on a trip with Jiraya-sama." I stared at the wall behind him. That was...good? Jiraya-san was Minato's sensei and Naruto's godfather so...that was good._

" _I've already told you I don't care about him. The kid got friends and is training, he doesn't need me. What about your disease?" Itachi seemed to flinch slightly at that and he took off his coat._

" _It's...still here, like you said it would." It was my turn to frown now and I averted my eyes to him. We had some kind of weird friendship going on, but I didn't mind it. Far from it actually._

" _I really hoped you didn't get what my brother had but...damn Itachi, maybe you_ do _have a virus attacking your chakra network. If it's the case, the more you use chakra, the more it will reach your heart and..."_

" _I see," he whispered and looked down. I walked up to him and patted his shoulder._

" _Hey, if I remember_ _well, you have some herbs that can slow down the damages, you need to mix them together in some kind of weird mixture you have to eat though...it's blurry, sorry."_

" _That's fine, I didn't ask that much from you Akane, thank you." I blinked slowly, not expecting Itachi to actually thank me. So I awkwardly scratched my cheek with a grin, not capable to look at him in the eyes._

" _Well, you know...you basically sum up my social life! Ha...haha...I'm pathetic." I facepalmed. I was a missing-nin or KIA in Kiri, and he was a missing-nin from Konoha. How...pathetic was it to admit he was my social life?_

" _You're not." He took my hand in his and I blinked in surprise at the softness of his voice. Even his eyes...there was something new in it, almost...warmth? Very, very well hidden but warmth._

" _You gotta admit our relationship is weird and I don't even know how it still exist. It's...against all odds, would I even be in troubles if people knew we were friends? I mean, I'd be in trouble if I was seen by Kiri at all but...y'know?" He pursed his lips, his dark eyes lingering on my face. I felt myself blush at the attention and the small smirk tugging at his lips made me blush even harder. "Gosh Itachi, you're mean!"_

" _Am I?"_

" _Yeah, you always tease me but you pretend you don't! You take too much joy in my mise...ry..." I trailed off as I found myself between him and the sink of my kitchen. "I...Itachi?"_

" _Do you really want me to tease you?" he whispered in a husky voice and a shiver ran through my entire body._

" _Huh...Itachi..." I gulped at how close his face was to mine and how his onyx eyes were staring straight into mine, the same hidden warmth in them making me blush even harder. "Don't...if we cross the line we won't...go back..."_

" _Do you want to cross the line Akane?" I grasped the bottom of his shirt tightly with my free hand when he whispered in my ear, his hand tightening around mine. I started to breath faster. Itachi was far from being ugly and he was way too close to me for me to just ignore him. I..._

" _You're not under any kind of jutsu...or missions? They didn't send you to..."_

" _No," he refuted immediately, his face in front of mine and his eyes almost pleading me to believe him. His nose was touching mine and I could feel his hot breath against my lips. He...probably felt mine too. "Nobody but Kisame knows about you."_

" _Sasori..."_

" _Thinks I dumped you somewhere two years ago."_

" _I'm your dirty little secret." He raised a brow and from the situation and the minuscule smirk on his lips, I rolled my eyes. Of course, 'dirty' had innuendos. "You're such a..."_

" _You didn't answer the question." I tilted my head on my shoulder and my lower stomach warmed up when his eyes became slightly darker at my action. "Do you want to cross the li..." He didn't finish his sentence my lips were on his. They could have been soft if they were not as dry as they were._

 _In any case, I was about to move my head back but his arm wrapped itself around my waist to keep me against him, his lips gently moving against mine. As cheesy as it sounded, my heart seriously fluttered at this. I didn't even think twice when I half-opened my mouth, his tongue sliding in it and meeting mine softly._

 _He was almost treating me as if I was a porcelain doll or something and it was adorable. Itachi may have killed his entire clan, and it should make me run from him, but I couldn't care less. Because I was fine in his arms, his lips on mine and my arms around his neck, making him get even closer to me._

" _Itachi..." I murmured when he moved away, and I blushed when I spotted the thin string of saliva between us. Gosh...he was turning me on that...I yelped when he took me in his arms, my legs wrapped around his waist. "Itachi!"_

" _Yes?" He blinked innocently at me and I glared. Yeah...that man didn't kill his entire clan just because he could, there was something else. I raised a brow when he frowned, even if we were in my room already. "What are you thinking about?"_

" _You, you're drop dead gorgeous you know," I answered without thinking. I knew he didn't buy it, and I also knew he decided to ignore it because he dropped me on my bed, climbing on top of me. "I've never actually..."_

" _Neither have I," he confessed, moving his face closer to mine, "do you want to stop? I can, I won't force you." I put my hands on his cheeks and kissed him softly on the lips._

" _Bring it on Itachi, bring it on." For the first time since I met him, he really smiled at me. It was small, yet sincere, and somehow I couldn't help but think I was a little bit lucky to see that side of him he seemed to have killed as we made love._

* * *

" _Sasuke don't! This whole place is a giant seal, if you go full power against him we all die and he knows it!" I told him with wide, panicked eyes. Sasuke pursed his lips and glanced at my son and his blood stained shirt._

" _So what do we do?" he hissed at me. I breathed out slowly and directed my attention back to the masked man in front of us. I didn't know if he wanted to imitate Obito or not, but he could control matter itself. "That guy...what he does..."_

" _Mangekyou?" I asked him quietly and his frown deepened, his hand clenching tightly around his katana._

" _I don't know, I'd need to take off his mask to see but the seal it's..."_

" _Unstable, we're running out of time and for some reasons the asshole in front of us is protecting it." I bit the inside of my cheek. Out of time, we were out of time and Shisui, my baby was hurt and his sister was too not far away... "Sasuke, I may have a solution, once he's down I should have enough time to stop that fucking seal from exploding."_

" _What is it?"_

" _Reaper Death Seal." He widened his eyes in surprise. Because I knew it? Because I was planning on using it?_

" _Don't be stupid Akane, I'll get us out of here. You've got children!"_

" _So do you, and a wife. You left Konoha years ago, you deserve to go back one day. It's not a situation where you can use your eyes to punch your way out, it needs finesse. I seal him, he won't be brought back because he's too dangerous and..."_

" _Please don't do that," he whispered, sounding like a lost child to my ears. I smirked and flicked his nose._

" _I spent my life running and hiding, it's time for me to do something useful. Too much chakra and boom."_

" _I'm sorry, I'm still there you know!" the masked man yelled, making me sink into the floor. Sasuke pulled me out, leaving me next to Shisui. Before the enemy reached us, I told one last thing to Sasuke._

" _Once I'm ready, change place with me." He just left to engage the enemy in a taijutsu fight._

" _Mom?" I smiled brightly at my son, obviously scared from his wide open onyx eyes. "What..."_

" _I love you and your sister so much, you're the best things that have happened to me. Remember that okay? Always remember that Shisui." I looked in front of me and took a deep breath. One of the last one I'll ever take._

 _Then the Snake_

 _Boar._

 _Ram._

 _Rabbit._

 _Dog._

 _Rat._

 _Bird. Sasuke punched the guy, who punched back._

 _Horse._

 _Snake._

 _The guy saw me doing hand seals and tried to go to me._

 _Clap hands._

" _Sasuke now!" I blinked and found myself in front of the opponent. "Fuinjutsu: Reaper Death Seal!" The hairs on my body stood up at the frightening presence behind me. I heard an incomprehensible chant above me and I spat blood when I felt an arm goes through me._

" _Wha..." He winced in pain and tried to move, but the purple arm of the Shinigami was inside of him. I looked over my shoulder, at the demonic presence behind me. Bijuu were scary, but this one was purely deadly. The Uzumaki clan...playing with what shouldn't be played with. Suddenly, its yellow eyes looked down on me and he grinned, making me gulp._

 _What...was that feeling?_

 _I turned my attention back to the enemy._

" _You and I...I'll bring you down with me!" I roared, tearing his soul away from his body I felt it go through my body in a burning sensation and a seal appeared on my stomach. The masked guy fell on the floor, dead, and I ran to the seal._

 _I bit my thumb and drew another seal on it. I executed some hand seals and sealed it back, making it stable again as the fuin symbols in the room went back to their black color. I turned around and watched the Shinigami cut my and the guy's souls to eat them._

 _I dropped on the ground when the numbness started to grow in my body._

" _Mom!" Shisui cried out, tears streaming down his face. Sasuke caught me and put me on his knee with a grim face._

" _You're a moron."_

" _I know. Sasuke...don't let them...walk the same path you walked when...you were a teenager..." I couldn't feel my body below my waist. "Say...'hi' to your brother and Shi...sui when the...time has come for you...little brother..." He closed his eyes and nodded, but I felt his nails digging in my shoulder._

" _Mom I'm...I'm sorry..." my son sobbed and I heard my daughter screaming at the entrance of the room. She was next to her brother in a second, her whole right arm bandaged._

" _I...love you...bo...th..."_

" _No mom, don't you dare die on us!" Aki yelled, tears threatening to fall from her onyx eyes."Mom!"_

 _I was fine. I finally did something good, right oni-chan? I did the same thing you did for me years ago. Yet, it was nothing next to Itachi's martyrdom, or Shisui's forgotten efforts...those who helped in the shadows? How...unfair was that?_

 _They both deserved so much more...Shisui broke his promise to me..._

" _Mom? Mom!" my son called me panicked and shook me, but I didn't move. I couldn't move anymore._

 _If only...I knew Danzo was dangerous...a tree with rotten roots is bound to fall one day...yet I hid. I hid because I was a coward and I didn't pay my debt to Shisui._

 _I didn't help Shisui._

 _I wasn't enough for Itachi to fight._

 _I enjoyed Konoha, a Konoha they protected with their lives when I was such a coward._

 _Why...why do the good persons die first? Why?_

 _Why is life so unfair?_

 _Why didn't I help my friend? One of my first friend?_

 _If only I could give them the life they deserved._

 _If only...I could be useful for once in my life._

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :)**

 **Nevvy:** **Thanks for the review :) I'm happy you like the rythm of the fic, because I have to agree with you sometimes they're stuck at the same age for a very long time. I also feel proud of myself to know you needed tissues for the daddy issues x)**

 **iluvstorys: Thanks for the review, and it's quite ironic, isn't it?**

 **Bye**


	33. Konoha Hospital Arc: Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 12/13**

 **Shisui: 21**

 **Kakashi: 26**

* * *

"Hey you, you're familiar with her medical file?" Tsunade asked Dai, who was still staring at her in awe.

"Yeah, I am."

"Has she ever done that with her Ice Release?"

"Once, but it was localized in her hand. I unfroze it with my chakra but it left internal chakra burns."

"Your chakra control is not good enough to deal with particular cases of a kekkai genkai. I've seen some Yuki shinobi do that in the wars. They freeze the inside of their bodies to block any kind of injuries, but if it's not controlled enough like for her, it can be deadly. If you had not put her in stasis like you did, her heart would have been frozen and then...she wouldn't have died, but waking her up by force would have been way too dangerous. Unless she trains, she shouldn't use it."

"That's what I told her, but would she listen?" Dai muttered with crossed arms next to Akiko, who patted his shoulder. "Nooo, she never listens, she's so used to chakra exhaustion and pushing herself missions after missions and...that moron!"

"Shizune, go get the operating room number five ready with four medic specialized in the chakra network. You," Tsuna turned to Dai, who was still mumbling things and curses under his breath. The young medic stopped and looked up at her. "you did everything you could, you're coming to assist the one who'll take care of the limb she had frozen before. Follow Shizune." He nodded and left after the woman with a pig. The soon to be Hokage glanced at Akiko. "So, that seal Jiraya told me about?"

"She'll be angry that one more person knows about it."

"It messes up with medical ninjutsu, I need to know."

"Shinigami. If Jiraya-san told you about it already, just know there is the Shinigami's chakra in the seal, or rest of it at least. I think when Sandaime-sama summoned him, Akane felt it and it emptied her of her chakra. It happened once in the past, when the half of Kyuubi sealed inside Minato was trying to come out, it was burning her. She scratched her stomach until it bled. That technique...she must have used it..."

"To ease the pain of the burn," Tsunade finished with a nod. "Alright, I'll get to work, your daughter will be fine. I'm not gonna let a relative die on my watch."

"Oh right..." Akiko whispered, light gray eyes following Tsunade. The Uzumaki side of Ushio's family tree was related to Uzumaki Mito. Well, it slipped out of her mind. When she left her daughter's room, she found her nephew pacing in the hallway. "Hey Naruto, Tsunade-san is taking care of her, she'll wake up."

"Oh! Oh great!" She frowned at the fake smile Naruto gave her. "I'm worried about Sasuke too, he has that weird mark in the neck...Itachi-nii and Shisui-nii were speaking with Fugaku-san and..."

"Is Jiraya-san with them?"

"Yeah, but Pervy Sage says he can't really do anything because the Uchiha clan already has a Seal Master and it should be up to...nee-chan actually."

"But Akane is...oh, so complicated!" Naruto nodded sharply.

"It totally is 'ttebayo!"

"You know what you should do though?"

"What?"

"Tell Hinata and Sakura Akane is gonna be fine. They have been visiting her with Ko quite a lot. Kakashi-kun will be fine once Tsunade-san is done with your sister, I need a medical ninja with me for precaution."

"Okay! I'm off then!" He ran out of the hospital, apologizing to people he ran into.

Akane was back to her room after three hours of intensive care, her skin getting back to its original color. Pale, but not as paper white pale as when she arrived. She was breathing on her own, her chest rising softly with each breath she was taking.

"Akiko-san...Tsunade-sama..."

"Thanks Dai-kun, take some rest would you?" she said to her daughter's friend, who was clearly exhausted. He nodded and went to a cupboard of the room and pulled a blanket from it, wrapping it around Akane. He let himself fall in a chair nearby and planted his face in the mattress, falling asleep almost immediately.

It had been...intense. He learned a lot, that was for sure. Maybe he would thank her once she was awake for almost dying.

After all, he learned a lot when that stupid Uzu was on the verge of death.

* * *

Huh...

It was hella dark around here.

Like...it was black all around me. Until it wasn't.

Where was I? Didn't I just die?

Wait, what happened before I got here?

I was with...

Who was I with?

I remember something burning on and inside my stomach, and pain.

So I died?

There was an Uchiha.

Sasuke? No, he...or maybe?

I couldn't remember.

Oh, I was in a forest now. I recognized that path, it was near the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth. How did I get here? It wasn't far away from my house...old house?

How old was I anyway?

But the house. The one I somehow got by helping an old widow, who passed away in her sleep and left me with that small house in the woods because she had no relative left. They all died in the wars.

Wars...I lost in the wars too...

In the Third.

And the Fourth.

Wait, was there a Fourth Shinobi War?

I couldn't remember, everything in my mind was foggy.

Yet, my legs took me to that house. I tried to open the door, but it was locked. Why would it be lock? I looked around and searched in my pockets, but the key was nowhere to be found. I went to the window overlooking the living-room near the door and my eyes went wide open at the sight of the person in the couch. I knocked on the window but he didn't look at me, staring at the ceiling, his arms on the back of the couch.

Why did he look so relaxed whereas I...

God dammit, it was Itachi!

I tried to scream his name, but nothing came out. I grasped my throat, desperately trying to make any sound but I couldn't.

But he turned his eyes to me. He was looking right into my eyes with a frown on his face, a small crease between his brows. His frown deepened when I smiled happily at him and his lips moved. He was saying something but I couldn't hear him. I squinted and focused on his lips.

N...not...

Yet?

Not yet?

What did he mean by 'not yet'?

But...

It...Itachi was saying 'You can't come, not yet.'

I blinked sheepishly and placed my hand on the window, tears at the corners of my eyes. His eyes softened and he put his hand against the window too and mouthed words to me. Words that made me shake my head.

'I wish you would remember seeing me.'

A shiver went up my spine when I felt pure dread crawling under my skin. Purple fingers softly grasped my shoulder, a necklace of red pearls dancing around the arm, the long and sharp nails threatening to pierce my skin at any moments. I summoned all of my courage to peek over my shoulder, gaping at the yellow irises over black. It was...demonic. Not the bijuu type, but the real, paranormal demonic shit that human beings should never see. However, here it was, a smirk showing his sharp teeth as he sensed my fear. I yelped in pain as its claws dug into my shoulder and threw me down, the ground under my feet vanishing out of sudden. I screamed as I fell, the yellow eyes of the Shinigami staring down at me from above.

Oh.

I remember.

I summoned him.

And died.

I screw my eyes shut when I felt my fall coming to an end. And then I could hear voices and I was pretty sure they were muffled by water or something.

"...soon...wake up..."

"Okay...maybe...moves..." There was something warm around my hand, holding it tightly. It was comforting, there was someone I knew in death then? But it didn't feel like I was dead. I could smell the clean odor of antiseptic, feel the warmth of a sun ray on my face...and something warm holding my hand. With the little strength I had, I twitched a finger. The voices stopped. "Akane? Akane you're awake? Try to move your finger." I did it again and I could feel the joy radiating from next to me.

"Hey Uzu, try to open your eyes for me okay?" I...knew that voice, and he wasn't dead. I was alive? I groaned quietly at how heavy my eyelids felt, how my whole entire body felt weak. Every single muscle of my body were sore. But I opened my eyes, to close them right away because of the sun. There was sun, and Dai? But Dai was in Kiri, and Kiri didn't see lots of sun during the year, so what? "Don't you dare be weak against the sun Uzu, open your eyes and look at me."

"...ut'up..." I grumbled, blinking slowly to adjust my poor eyes to the sunlight. Dai snickered and turned on a small flashlight in my eyeballs, which made me glare at him.

"Alright, you seem to be alright on first sight!" I blinked at Dai. He was...so young. Where was his stubble? "Uzu, you've finally realized how good looking I am?" Someone scoffed next to me and Dai glared. "I didn't ask you Uchiha.

I froze. Uchiha? Who except Sasuke, Sakura and Sarada had this name? Slowly, I looked on my left side and widened my eyes at the black curls, onyx eyes, broad nose and relieved grin before me. What...was that some kind of sick joke? Was I in an illusion? Did...oh god, was that Infinite Tsukuyomi never stopped and the past fifteen years had been an illusion!? In any case, I felt a murderous need to kill that man who thought he could pretend to be Shisui when Shisui _died_ jumping off a cliff with two empty eyes sockets. I wouldn't be lured by the confused expression on his face when I bared my teeth at him, ignoring the dull pain in my muscles when I sat up.

"A...kane?" Even his voice was the same, how dared this _person_ tarnish Shisui's memory by copying him!

"Who the fuck do you think you are..." I ignored my hoarse voice. I ignored my throat begging for water. I ignored the way blood spurted from my arm when I pulled out the IV and his alarmed face, his eyes going to Dai to know what I was doing. "How dare you tarnish a dead man's memory by stealing his identity and showing yourself to me?" Something flashed through his eyes and he took a step back, his chair scrapping against the floor. I grabbed a syringe on the nightstand, taking slow steps toward him. "Don't you dare use Shisui's face like that you piece of shit! Stop that henge now so that I can kill you for that! Stop it now!"

"Aka..."

"DON'T SPEAK WITH HIS VOICE EITHER! LEAVE THE DEAD ALONE!" I screamed from the top of my lungs, pouncing on him with speed I didn't remember having. He grabbed my wrist easily and I thrust my knee in his stomach. He leaned toward me at the blow, his eyes still in mine with a worried glint in them. I felt arms trying to take me away from behind and I fought back, nausea and dizziness engulfing me. I started making hand seals when I felt something puncturing my neck. I peeked at Dai over my shoulder with a puzzled look on my face.

"Sorry Uzu," he told me apologetically before my legs stopped supporting me.

I blacked out.

* * *

"That...was unexpected, she must have had a vivid nightmare," Dai stated, placing her back in bed. Shisui noticed the blood dripping down her arm, the hole where the IV was wider than before and he wondered if she felt any pain at that. "I'll hum...please leave for the moment I need to...put the IV back in and fix her arm so..."

"Yeah...fine," Shisui muttered, ruffling his hair as he left the room.

Akane had looked right into his eyes and attacked him. Even if she managed to actually hit him in the stomach with more strength he thought she had by chance, because he didn't think she would be able to move like that after being unconscious for three weeks straight.

But the look in her eyes...

Shisui leaned against the wall in the hallway, near the lobby, and took his head in his hands, almost pulling at his hair.

He had never seen such hatred and such coldness in her eyes. That woman he just saw...was the woman that came out of the Bloody Mist, he saw it now. Yet, he saw the panicked and terrified glint in her eyes. She really thought he was dead, she thought Uchiha Shisui was dead and that he stole his own identity. A selfish part of him was so happy to know his death had...such an impact on her and how she seemed eager to keep his memory intact, but...

But she thought he was dead. When she saw Dai, he spotted some confusion in her eyes, as if she recognized him yet not really.

Shisui's breathing became labored, different scenario playing in his head.

He should have pushed her to tell how her seal worked, because he was not going to accept she _forgot_ the past five years and what she changed! It was not...what happened before Itachi and Mangetsu got to her anyway? There had been the warm body of an Uchiha and two guys with Akatsuki coats, one of them used poison but...Akane had not been touched by it, had she?

They said she seemed to have inhaled some poisonous gas and that was the reason it took her so long to wake up but...five years of her memories gone like that?

Did she forget how she had lived in Konoha with them and how he and the Uchiha clan were not dead?

"Shisui-kun?" He raised glassy eyes to Akiko. Yeah, she would...she would know something, right?

"Akane attacked me," he whispered quietly and Akiko frowned. "She...she kept saying I was dead and...she forgot..."

"Maybe it was an episode. Sandaime-sama...used it too..." she said more quietly, looking around her to make sure there was no one. "Don't think she really forgot, who knows what she saw when she was unconscious, okay?" Shisui nodded absently, mad brown eyes carved in his brain. "She attacked you you said? Are you also shocked that she actually can throw a punch?" Shisui didn't laugh at that. He...was. He knew she was a kunoichi but...

But he couldn't bring himself to think Akane would be good or put a lot of effort into something she didn't like to do.

"I know you care about her, but if you keep denying this part of her any longer, reality will only come crashing down harder. I'll go check on her. Think about it." But he didn't want to. He didn't want to imagine a girl who hated the shinobi system with a kunai in her fist and blood on her hands.

* * *

I knew what was happening.

Fucking powerful genjutsu. Maybe someone pulled an Izanami out of nowhere on me. So here I was, in the middle of the afternoon, in a corner of the fake hospital room, hugging my knees against my chest. I heard other voices, seemingly worried over my mental state, but I knew there were not real.

Mom was dead.

Shisui was dead.

Jiraya-san was dead.

Mikoto-san was dead.

 _Itachi_ was dead.

There were all dead but it was voices I recognized. Weird knowing the last time I saw Jiraya-san and Mikoto-san I was five and I shouldn't remember their voice, but I did.

Where were my children anyway? Why didn't they come already? And Sasuke? They had to be fine!

"Everybody is worried about you." I heard Itachi's impostor say as he was standing in front of the door. He was smart enough to leave a safety distance between us, good. It wouldn't be hard to find another syringe. I didn't get Shisui's impostor with it, but I'd get Itachi's. "Akiko-san and my parents don't want to let the kids come and see you in that state." Lies, lies, lies. What kids? Who was he talking about? My kids? "We don't know what happened but Dai-san is harassing Godaime-sama to have a psychiatrist take a look at your head." And they'll fuck me up even more. I leaned my head on the wall, focusing on the coolness of it. It was a powerful illusion, no doubt about it. "Two jounin from Kiri arrived yesterday and the Mizukage wants you to leave Konoha as soon as you physically can, we're not gonna let that happen. Tsunade-sama is talking about it with Terumi-san." Mizukage? I wasn't fighting for Kiri anymore, what did he smoke? And Terumi-san?

"Sen...sei?" I mumbled and I was sure I heard a quiet gasp behind me. I screw my eyes shut and tried to remember sensei's features, her full red lips, her long and thick brown hair, her kind emerald eyes...I squeaked and banged my head on the wall when yellow eyes and a demonic grin flashed in my mind. And again. Again until warm blood ran down my face. I went for another one but my forehead ended up in a hand.

"Stop hurting yourself," Itachi's impostor whispered in a pleading tone. "See us and hear us Akane, please. You can't...you can't keep pretending we're not real."

"Shut up impostor, shut up!" I pushed him and glared at him. I made him fall on his ass and his eyes were almost begging me to believe him. Ha! Did they all think I was crazy!? I wasn't stupid enough to believe dead people were suddenly alive! They were the crazy ones!

"Uchiha, out." The impostor's face went from broken to emotionless in the blink of an eye and he obeyed Dai. As if the real Itachi would obey him, or show that much emotions on his face.

"I know, get into bed," I grumbled and crawled back under the creased white sheets. I glared hatefully when the impostor shot one last look above his shoulder and found myself enjoying the broken glint in his dark eyes.

I let Dai, or 'Dai', examining me. He told me his sister was there, that the Mizukage sent her and Naoto here and a dry chuckle escaped me, making him stare at me with worry. Sensei was the old Mizukage, she didn't really take orders from the Sixth to come here, and Naoto died in the war.

They were all full of shit.

I shut myself to the world and stared outside, hearing the sounds of the hospital or people trying to talk to me merely as background noise. The afternoon sun turned into a beautiful pink sunset to a cloudless night with hundreds of stars illuminating the sky. My eyes were locked on the mountain though.

It was missing three rock faces.

Huh, interesting.

"Are you sleeping?" I froze at the familiar voice. It was...more high-pitched than expected, but it was Sasuke's voice. I turned my head to him with hope I wasn't alone in the end.

"Sasuke!" He started at my yell of pure glee and happy grin. I jumped out of bed, my legs barely shaking and hugged Sasuke tightly, my nose in his hair. "Sasuke, I'm sorry, I'm sorry you had to endure that again, please forgive me, please..." I begged him. I noticed I was shaking like a leaf when he hesitantly returned my hug, but it was okay. He told me he promised his brother he'd take care of me and I used a suicide jutsu in front of him. He saw another member of his family died in front of his eyes.

"It's...I forgive you nee-san..." he mumbled uncomfortably, as if he was dealing with a wild animal. I blinked and dropped my hand in his back. He was...

"Did you shrink? You're so...small..." I said quietly. I grasped his shoulders and moved back, taking in his features. The moon was the only source of light but...

He was...so young.

"Nee-san?" When did he start to call me that and not 'Akane'?

 _'Thank you nee-san!_ '

I widened my eyes. My mouth was moving but I couldn't speak.

"How..." I managed to say in a hoarse and tight voice. "How old are you?"

"I'm thirteen." I dropped on my knees and Sasuke's face morphed into a worried one at my glassy eyes. He turned to a corner of the room and someone else appeared, wearing hospital clothes. Like Sasuke. Like me. The silhouette stopped next to me and knelt, taking me in their arms and rocking me back and forth. I touched my cheek and blinked at the wetness on them.

"Ka...kashi?"

"It's me yeah," the silhouette responded and I noticed his scarecrow-like hairstyle. One of my hand weakly grasped his shirt and I buried my head in his chest. "Are you back?" I died, I died Kakashi, but I remember. I died and was sent back here and...

Oh gosh I relived my death.

I relived my _death_.

A choked sob passed my lips. I didn't bother trying to hold it, hold them back.

"Akane, it's okay, you're back, you're safe," Kakashi whispered to me, like he used to do after Fubuki's death. "Do you want some fresh air? We can get you to the roof." I nodded weakly and felt him picking me up like a bride. "Sasuke, you're coming?"

"Yeah," he muttered and we went to the rood in silence. I shivered at the cool breeze outside and Kakashi put me down, Sasuke and him sitting on each sides of me. I blinked slowly, processing the _four_ Hokage sculpted in the mountain. Kakashi seemed to notice.

"Akane, please tell me which Kage is in each village at the moment." I looked up at him in silence. The Sixth Mizukage, the Fourth Tsuchikage, the Fifth Raikage, the Fifth Kazekage, the Seventh Hokage. But...it wasn't what he wanted to hear.

"The Third Tsuchikage," I started mechanically, "The Fourth Raikage, the Fourth Mizukage, The Fou...rth Kazekage? The Thir...no, the Fifth Hokage? I don't...I'm not sure for the last two...people have been talking..."

"Suna does not have a Kage at the moment, Rasa-sama was killed by Orochimaru, like...like the Sandaime," he informed me with hurt in his voice.

"Oh." I was on auto-pilot and I was scaring myself.

"Nee-san," Sasuke called me quietly next to me, staring in the distance too, "what...do you think you can tell us what is the last thing you remember?" I pursed my lips in thoughts. Dying, I remember dying in front of Sasuke, but it wasn't that. I was...eighteen, arrived here at thirteen so...five years. In my episode, I skipped over the past five years.

"You don't have to if you don't feel like it Akane, Inoichi-san will probably examine you later," Kakashi said.

"You didn't show up at the Chuunin Exams," I drawled slowly, "I was worried your tardiness was rubbing off on Sasuke." Said Sasuke scoffed next to me and Kakashi scratched his cheek with a sheepish grin under his mask. "There was...a genjutsu. The four of us broke it, Ko arrived and I asked him and Dai to go and get you, because of the Forrest of Death." Kakashi nodded, seeing the logic in that. "Fights broke out all around us, Mangetsu went to get his brother to fight whereas Haku and Chōjūrō followed the Sand siblings with Naruto. Then...genin from the Exams arrived, there was Sakura, Shikamaru...Hinata, Kiba...Neji and Tenten? I think that's it. Yasuo gave orders and we followed them with the genin. I left them back to join Naruto, and we engaged Gaara...Temari swapped sides to stop her brother and Chōjūrō was behind fighting Kankuro. I...another party attacked us and I tracked them outside of Konoha borders, and then I was in pain and Yasuo arrived and I was burning so I used that kinjutsu and..." I widened my eyes and stared into Kakashi's calm and sad eye. "Yasuo, his name is...Uchiha Yasuo, I remember now. We fought in Kumo, I almost lost but...but we helped each other during the Second Exam, he..." I gulped and didn't need to finish my sentence for Kakashi to understand my trail of thoughts.

"His name was added to the memorial stone, he died quickly because of an unknown poison. Itachi and Mangetsu found you, and then Dai arrived with Sasuke, Sai and Shin." I tilted my head on my shoulder. Sai? Like...Ino's Sai?

"I see. How long was I..." I trailed off and was surprised when Sasuke's quiet voice answered me monotonously.

"We spent five days to bring Hokage-sama back to the village. She took care of you immediately, Naruto dragged her and yelled at her to speed up anyway. You've slept for three weeks and you woke up four days ago. You...you attacked Shisui when you woke up." I stared into space with hollow eyes. I...remembered that part...partly, I remembered being mad and hitting him. Gosh, I was such a mess...

"I arrived in Konoha two months ago? Almost three?"

"Yeah, Mangetsu went back with your team not long after they went to look for Tsunade-sama," Kakashi filled me in. I quirked a brow at him.

"Okay? I think I remember Dai telling me his sister and Naoto-senpai were in Konoha too. Why are they here and not them?" Kakashi looked away and when I glanced at Sasuke, he looked down. I frowned. "Something happened? And why are the both of you in the hospital anyway?"

"Kakashi is a moron," Sasuke hissed next to me. I grasped his shirt and pulled it down a little bit, earning an offended grunt in return.

"What's that? A tatoo?"

"Something you'll have to deal with once you're fine," my friend said in a sigh. "Orochimaru..."

"Ah," I replied, checking quickly my chakra reserves. They were...incredibly low knowing I slept for three weeks, but I did inhale some poisonous gas. I made the tiger seal and blue chakra covered the palm of my hand. I placed it above the mark without touching it. I barely started to examine it that I stopped and retracted my hand. "I'll tell Jiraya-san to take care of it, I can't do anything."

"But Father said you were the Seal Master of the Uchiha clan," Sasuke refuted with a frown marred on his face.

"Yes, but it is not a seal but a mark and it ranks Orochimaru and..." I gulped and gazed at Kakashi. "It's senjutsu, I don't use it and if I messed it up..." Kakashi nodded in understatement.

"Senjutsu?" Sasuke repeated.

"Yeah, natural chakra or something like that. Jiraya-san...will know what to do, hopefully." I stretched and got up, flexing my legs to check the strength I had in them. I wasn't in Izanami or in the Purgatory, I was...alive.

I shuddered and peeked over my shoulder, next to the exit of the hospital to the roof. Here, in the shadows, I spotted yellow eyes watching. A cloud moved and the moon lighted the shadows, showing a man with wild short red hair and honey-colored eyes, a playful smirk on his lips giving me... _thumbs-up_? He mouthed words and my left eye twitched.

"Nee-san?"

"I'm...fine..."

The fuck did he mean by 'back on track, good luck!' that...clown? Somehow, he made me think way too much to old Naruto and his grin when he wanted me to do something I wouldn't like but I wouldn't have any other choice than doing it.

I yawned and rubbed my eyes. Getting back on Earth was exhausting.

"I'll go back to my room, I'm tired and...I'll have a lot of explanation and apologies to give tomorrow."

The first thing I saw when I woke up in the morning was Sasuke eating an apple next to my bed. I raised a brow at him and he shrugged, saying that in case of another episode he would 'work his magic on me'. Hanging out with Naruto made him lose some brain cells apparently, but he was not old Sasuke, so I let it go. However...

"You can't seriously be reading that too, right nee-san? You just...you _stole_ it from Kakashi!" Sasuke almost yelled, completely horrified. Wow, if he was like that with my taste for smut books, who knew how he'd react if it was Itachi. Gosh, that would be fucking hilarious!

"Actually," I started with a smirk, showing him the first page of the book with Jiraya-san's autograph and message, "I was asked to review it. It's pretty good y'know. I'm so buying the next one." Sasuke's face went as white as a sheet of paper and I burst into laughter. I destroyed his bub...

"U...Uzu?" I wiped away a tear from my right eye and looked up at Dai, Sasuke moving aside to throw his apple in the trash. I grinned at him and waved.

"Look! My sanity finally decided to come say 'hi' to me!' Oh, hi Mom!" They looked at me blankly barely blinking. "Sasuke, do you think I broke them or what?"

"Possible. Hey nii-san." I raised a brow at the head poking out behind mom, staring blankly at me too.

"What happened?" Mom finally asked, taking big steps toward my bed.

"Basically, Sasuke happened during the night." Sasuke puffed up with pride at that. For someone who had the Curse Mark from Orochimaru, I'd need to put on paper what I remembered about it, he seemed fine. "Oh, Sasuke, don't forget to tell your father that I'm letting Jiraya-san handling your mark. And would you stop looking at us like that all of you? Kakashi sneaked in my room too last night!" I swore if Itachi was used to show emotions, he would be gaping. But no, instead his closed face came back and he left.

Okay...?

"Please, could I have a moment with my daughter?" With that, I was left alone with Mom. She sat down where Sasuke was moments before and engulfed me in a hug. "You have no idea how horrible it was to see you like that." I closed my eyes and hugged her back, apologizing in her hair. She let go of me after a few seconds and took a deep breath, a huge smile gracing her features. "Do you know what happened?"

"Yeah. Sandaime used the jutsu right?" She nodded. "Well during my fight I sensed my seal acting up and draining me from my chakra. It was burning, I used a kinjutsu. When I was out, I...saw some past memories of mine and the last one was...my..." She took my hand in hers, silently telling me I didn't need to finish that sentence, that she got it. "After that I...I think I was somewhere but I can't remember except...

"Except?"

"I think I saw the Shinigami Mom," I whispered quietly, a shiver running down my spine. "I remember his yellow eyes and...anyway, when I woke up I didn't remember I died, I thought I did but I was in the hospital and..."

"You were disoriented, you didn't know that...if you went through your death a second time, it's logical you were in distress," she summed up with a sigh of relief, a hand on her heart. "And because a lot of people were dead you..." I swallowed with difficulty, the lump in my throat getting tighter. "But Sasuke?"

"He was...there when I passed away. When I saw him but younger it...it just clicked in my mind. Kakashi asked me questions about current stuff after and everything came back to me. Sorry for scaring everyone."

"You'll have to apologize to Shisui and Itachi specifically, they're the ones who got the most violent reactions out of all of us."

"Aren't they the ones who came the most?" I paled at her nodding with a small smile. Fuck it, Shisui would understand, but Itachi?

"Naoto-kun and Mei-chan will be happy to know you're okay!"

Right...

Why were they even here to begin with!?

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :)**

 **Ederisu:** **Thanks for the review and yes, he still does :)**

 **Bye**


	34. Konoha Hospital Arc: Final

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 12/13**

 **Shisui: 21**

 **Kakashi: 26**

* * *

"I see, so that's why you're both here," I muttered, rubbing my hand on my forehead as we were following a member of T&I down to the cells, where the Sand Siblings _still_ were. A month in that hell hole, even if Suna capitulated and all that politic bullshit. The reason why they were still here was because the Mizukage, when he told Konoha he'd send two jounin after Mangetsu gave his report about Hoshigaki-san and my dad, asked Konoha to keep them here as he was dealing with Suna too. Why? Because Suna, or Orochimaru, hired two members of the Akatsuki and I ended badly injured.

Obito was good at taking advantage of the situation, I'll give him that. Let's just say apparently we were in a tensed relationship with Suna and that, barely awake, I was given another A-rank mission. Oh, joy.

"They told us everything they knew, I don't see what else you could make them spill," Ibiki Morino grumbled, looking down on us. Sensei smiled sweetly, a discreet wave of burning chakra around us as I added the freezing feeling of mine, Naoto in front of us with his cold, emotionless face on. The Konoha shinobi tensed, even Morino, and we were allowed to talk to them.

"So, I heard Suna was trying hard to get you back in your village but Kiri has been blocking the thing, sorry about that," I told them with a cold polite smile. "So, was it Oto or Suna who hired the Akatsuki? The black coats with red clouds gang."

"We were told that with the Police Force and an Uzumaki in Konoha, we had to get outside help," Kankuro replied, clearly pissed for still being here, his bare face looking a lot like his father. "That snake..."

"So Suna then." Temari nodded grudgingly at Naoto.

"Akane, you should tell them what you told us," sensei said and I pursed my lips.

"What do you know of my condition for the past month?"

"Naruto said you were in the hospital," Gaara answered, his turquoise eyes staring at me since I entered the room.

"I was, because during the fight, not long after I told Temari to go to Kankuro because she realized Suna had been manipulated by Orochimaru, I faced a member of the Akatsuki. I think you know him, he was and still is in Kiri's Bingo Book. Red hair, brown eyes, uses puppet a lot and goes by the name of Sasori?" Temari and Kankuro gaped at me.

"You're...you're sure of what you're saying?" the puppeteer asked me quietly.

"Apparently, he didn't deny it when Akane called him that, or when she mentioned his grandmother," Naoto snorted, leaning his back against the wall, pink eyes piercing through the three genin.

"There is no doubt Orochimaru played his cards well by making Suna hire one of their own missing-nin." I had a wry smile at sensei implying they really fucked up.

"He had a puppet which could produce very hard black forms, maybe you'll know what to do of that," I continued, ignoring the oldest two glancing at each other with worry. "However, two of our own missing-nin are a part of the Akatsuki as well, and they went to Naruto." My eyes found Gaara's, who narrowed his as he was seeing where I was going with that. "Sasori tried to kill my student and I ran after him to leave you at your fight, but he was watching you in particular Gaara. I trust you three to make good use of that information, Konoha might have told you this sooner or later, but see this as...not a peace offend, but like a debt we might come and collect sooner or later."

"In the state the village is right now, and our failed attempt at destroying Konoha, we don't have any other choice. We can't risk a fight to break out between Suna and Kiri."

"I think that's it, we should go back to the hospital now," Naoto pipped up, placing a hand in my back to push me out of the room. "Once your village has regained its stability, you will probably hear about us. Until then, our sincere condolences about your loss." And we were out. I quirked a brow at Naoto, who shrugged. 'Our sincere condolences'? Their situation...had nothing to do with ours, so he shouldn't really empathize with them, especially with his great reputation and resemblance to Yagura.

"Thank you for letting us speak with them, I hope you manage to get some information as well," Mei-sensei said to Morino-san, who scoffed but nodded anyway. "Now, hospital, you're still recovering. You're only fine since this morning after all." I rolled my eyes and dragged my feet to follow them. We were in the street leading to the hospital when I realized something.

"Where is Dai by the way?"

"Apparently, someone who helped them during the attack is seriously sick so he stayed back," Naoto explained with exhaustion. "Man, I hate that kind of mission. That's your thing, being silver tongue and diplomatic missions Akane. Not that we get a lot of these but..."

"Just because I always end up at the Daimyo's one way or another doesn't mean I like them Karatachi! And why are you and sensei walking so close to me? You're not my bodyguards!"

"You never know what's coming," Mei-sensei reminded me and Naoto nodded, his finger pointed at his nose. I facepalmed and used Naoto as a meat shield as blond hair appeared outside the hospital, followed by black curls.

"You said nee-chan was around Shisui-nii!" Naruto whined and I could picture him flailing his arms around.

"She is, she's hiding behind him!" Shisui replied with exasperation. "I see the top of your head above his shoulder!" Nope, nope, not talking to me. I wasn't there. "You shouldn't be out of...you've got to be kidding me..." I heard him mutter through clenched teeth and he body flickered in front of me. So I body flickered in front of Naoto. Shisui blinked and I ducked when he was about to look at me. "Now you're just being childish." I knew that but...

"Nee-chan..." Naruto trailed off behind me. I stood up and turned around, frowning at the guilt and confusion in his eyes. "Your...your dad he..." I grasped his shoulder and ignored the slight pain on his face when my nails almost dug in his skin. "He said I killed Kushina?" Everything froze around me. "I...did I kill her? She's my mom, Aunty told me she was my mom and..."

"Be sure to go back to your room and listen to Dai and the nurses Akane," sensei ordered me, grabbing Naoto by his flack jacket, "we'll go back to the hotel."

"Heh...what but...Mei!" Naoto sent me one last warning look about overdoing it and they left.

"Naruto, go to my hospital room, I need to have a word with Shisui." My cousin glanced behind me and Shisui must have looked or scary or miserable because Naruto ran in the building.

I barely moved my feet that Shisui had me in his arms and body flickered us on the hospital roof, hidden from everyone. I shivered when I remembered the yellow eyes of last night, and the man, but Shisui pressing me tightly against his chest cut off my thoughts. His arms were crushing me in a bear hug and I closed my eyes, letting him have that moment. His face was buried in the crook of my neck and one of his left hand ended up in my hair.

Okay, maybe it was...

The oxygen was knocked out of my lungs and I squeaked in surprise when he took many steps back to be against the wall and slide along it, taking me down with him. He crossed his legs around me and blocked me at the same time.

"Shisui...can't breath..." I stressed and his hold on me loosened, but I still could smell the faint scent of sweat covered by soap. "You were training?"

"Letting some steam off," he finally said, moving his head back to look at me. The lump of guilt came back full force in my throat. I hurt him, I knew I had been hurting him but...I hurt Shisui, I hurt his feelings. How awful was I? "Akane..."

"Sorry for attacking you," I apologized weakly, looking down to the ground of the roof. "I...went back through some painful memories."

"I though you wouldn't remember me," he mumbled and I could feel his hurt gaze on me, "or anything that happened these past five years. Did you...did you relive your..."

"Death?" I finished for him and I heard him gulping. I glanced coldly at him and he scowled, knowing the moment was over. "You can say it, that's what happened. If that's all I'll go." He took my wrist in his hand, his features taking an even harsher scowl. "What now? I apologized."

"I'm worried about you, can't you at least talk to me!?" he snapped and I flinched. He...raised his voice pretty loud. He ran his free hand on his face. "Why do you keep pushing me away Akane? I'm worried about you."

I sighed. "Appreciated, but not necessary." Ignore how he's looking at you with disbelief, how you're hurting him again, how he's showing way too much emotions to an enemy. "I'm not from Konoha, you shouldn't worry about me and you know it. I'm still alive, I'm fine."

" _Fine_?" he repeated in an angry growl. "Well you know what, I'm not! I thought you were dead, then I find out you were back on active duty in Kiri! You can't be fine mentally, I know it and no matter how much you deny it I won't buy it!" Curse you Shisui, you're too observant for your own good. Don't break my act now! "You can't be fine with doing something you hate, you...just tell me if they force you, I'll find something to..."

"As I said, appreciated but not necessary."

"I just want to help you!"

"I don't want your help, can you understand that? Last time you died on me." I opened my eyes wide and I could feel him do the same. Last time he promised to help me he killed himself.

"The circumstances are different," he whispered softly. "I'm different."

"So am I. Can't you just...stop caring?"

"Are you kidding me?" he asked me quietly, too quietly. I just wanted him to leave me alone, stay in Konoha and stay alive. "How do you want me to do that?"

"I don't know, protect Konoha, take care of your girlfriend, deal with your clan. I survived without your help once, I can do it a second time." That was low, I knew it was from how he clenched his fists and jaw, yet I said it and didn't regret it. I knew he was worried, but I also knew I was more than able to survive.

"It doesn't change that when I found you on that mission, your eyes were showing only disgust for yourself and it's the same today," he spat at me. "Blame me, if one of my friends saves my life I'll try to help them, _even if they don't want me to_." I blinked and pinched the bridge of my nose in annoyance. He could such a pain in the ass when he wanted to! Fucking Uchihas!

"If you keep trying, you'll end up dead. Stay away from me Shisui, that's the last warning I'll give you, leave me the fuck alone I don't need you!" He glared daggers at me and sent me a provoking smirk. I teleported in my hospital room and punched my pillow. "He's so frustrating that moron! Why can't he just take care of his own business and-ARGH!"

"Nee...nee-chan?" I turned my glare to Naruto and saw him stiffened and sweat drop at me. My eyes softened.

"Yeah, your mom? What did mine say?"

"That her name was Uzumaki Kushina and she died when I was born?" I sat in my bed and motioned him to come closer when I noticed his eyes being wet. I couldn't say too much and it was awful but...

"She died not long after you were born, but it wasn't because of you. It was Kyuubi. She was a strong a brave kunoichi and she died for the village, to protect it, and to protect you." I smiled with nostalgia. "You know, I was there when she was told she was pregnant with you. Your dad and her...they were so happy..." I trailed off and I hugged my cousin as he sobbed in my laps.

Yagura, go to hell, I wasn't going to be 'Bloody Mist' right now.

As it was an exhausting day, emotionally speaking, I fell asleep early in the evening. Now my sleep was back to being a restful one, I was happy in my hospital bed. At least until someone pocking my cheek woke me up. I slapped the thing away but it came back even harder.

"Who...oh come on!" I groaned in my pillow after seeing curls of black hair. "Shisui, it's the middle of the night!"

"You're mean," he stated blandly and I moved my face away from the pillow to squint at him. "You're very nasty when you want to protect people. You do that so that I don't like you anymore, but I'm an Uchiha, it has the opposite effect Aka-chan." Oh man...was it alcohol I was smelling? "When...when I'm worried, like a lot lottt, and that the other person doesn't want my help that...I feel powerless and I haaaaaate it! You've been making me feel like that since I confessed!"

"Shisui...how much have you drunk tonight?" His mouth formed a 'o' and he seemed to be thinking really hard about it from the concentration on his face.

Then, in all seriousness he told me. "Do you care about it? Really?"

"Geez, it's not the time for that discussion," I whined, sitting up. His eyes followed me and he sent me a toothy grin.

"Do you think I'm pretty Aka-chan?" I blinked at the question. What the...shouldn't I be the one asking him that question? Wasn't that like...something girls were worried about?

"You're Uchiha pretty?" He scowled and puffed his cheeks. "I mean...you all have crazy genetics that make you attractive so..." He was in my face in a second and I finally took note of his reddened cheeks, thanks to the alcohol I could smell in his breath. It stank so much.

"You think I'm attractive? You'd get in bed with me?" I gaped at him and narrowly escaped him when he tried to hug me. His upper-half was now on my bed and...he wasn't moving anymore?

"Shi...sui?" I called him, carefully poking him. I sweat dropped when I heard snoring. I guess it was better than him asking me if I'd have sex with him?

"There he is," a new voice hissed from the window, making me jump slightly. I turned around and met the annoyed face of Itachi, who was looking at his cousin with despair and annoyance.

"What the fuck Itachi? I was sleeping!"

"Apparently, the talk you had today frustrated him a lot and he decided sake would be the answer. I've been running after him for an hour and he stole a bottle from the bar." Indeed, there was a bottle of sake on the nightstand. "Has he done anything I need to apologize for on his behalf?"

"Well...he asked me if I found him attractive enough to sleep with him." Even in the dark I could picture colors leaving of his face as he pinched his nose.

"I apologize on his behalf," he muttered and I smirked in amusement.

"That's okay, let's keep this between us. I feel like he won't remember anyway." As if to agree, his snoring was extra loud for a second. "Take him home and put some pills and water on his nightstand." I raised my brows when I felt him staring at me. "What? I'm not _that_ heartless yet."

"I know that, Shisui seemed to think the opposite though. You don't push me away half as much as him."

"You're different," I whispered and got up to go closer to him as if Shisui was going to wake up any second. "I feel like you understand more my position and realize it's real, and you probably do since you've been watching us from the beginning. It's just...I feel like even if you care, you know my affiliation with Kiri put a very thick wall between us? You stay behind and wait for it to crumble on its own whereas he...he's trying to blow it up and blow himself up at the same time. You know what I mean?"

"I do," he responded quietly and I sighed in relief, almost missing the small smile on his lips. "And he does too, to a certain extent. His feelings mix everything."

"I know, that's also why I've been so cold to him but he just keeps coming back for more that masochist. Oh and...sorry for creeping you out with my episodes, I'm good now, something clicked when I saw Sasuke."

"He told me the same thing, he also said we should have let him see you earlier." I muffled a giggle behind my hand. "So you're fine now? Really?"

"Yeah, sorry for the...disturbing things you saw me do." He slowly shook his head, silently telling me it was nothing. That guy was an angel, and it made my heart ache even more when I thought about old Itachi. Just for him, going through Kiri a second time was worth it.

"I have a question though."

"Ah?"

"Your loyalty...does the current Mizukage have it?" I blinked slowly and a malicious smile spread onto my lips, my forefinger on them to tell him it was a secret. It was...we were almost there and Itachi always gave me that feeling I could just talk. "I see." _It explains a lot_ was left unsaid, but I got it anyway. "You're...still in there then," he added so quietly I almost didn't hear him. Still in there? Did he really think I had a complete change of personality? "I'll take care of-" Shisui fell on the floor in a big thump. Man, he was drooling. "I'll take care of him."

"He's alright huh? Even with the fall?" Itachi sighed and picked him up like a sack of potatoes on his shoulder.

"He has a thick skull, you can't imagine the number of things that were thrown at it." And he disappeared.

Huh...Shisui's head was a target practice after all.

* * *

This situation was the peak of the cringe. I was sitting in front of Fugaku-san, between Jiraya-san and Tsunade-san, who turned out to be a relative barely more remote than Naruto. I gave up on keeping tracks of families within clans anyway, especially on Dad's side which is pretty complicated. Anyway, we were in Fugaku-san's study, seals all around the place to keep what was going to be said among us.

I was supposed to leave this afternoon. I had my sanity back for three days only and I kinda wanted to leave Konoha as soon as I could. I was worried Mei-sensei being absent for too long would end up having bad consequences.

"Sasuke's mark is made of senjutsu, Orochimaru can control him to a certain extent," Jiraya-san started to explain. "From what Akane wrote down about what she knows, Orochimaru uses Sasuke's negative emotions to bring him to him, to manipulate him. Even if it seems like it gives a lot of advantages..."

"Senjutsu is difficult to control, and from what I've observed, the mark is spreading through Sasuke's chakra network." I frowned at what Tsunade-san was implying. "I'm afraid the mark will slowly poison Sasuke. Jiraya's Evil Sealing Method can slow it down, but it's up to Sasuke to have the determination to fight Orochimaru's influence in his head."

"In other words, Sasuke has to go to Orochimaru to stay alive," Fugaku-san stated sternly, his eyes on Tsunade-san. I slowly raised my hand and all eyes were on me. I fought the embarrassed blush from spreading on my cheeks. I was with two Sannin and the head of the Uchihas for fuck sake.

"His mark is on the first level, Orochimaru will offer something to Sasuke at some point, it's inevitable. Right now, the only thing to do is not giving Sasuke any reason to think leaving Konoha would be the best for him. If Orochimaru approaches him and he goes to Konoha for help, then it can be good to potentially use him as a bet if I may. If he doesn't go to anyone..."

"What happened before?" Fugaku-san asked me.

"Hum...well, with the state of Konoha after the attack, I'm pretty sure the team that was sent was mainly composed of genin. It failed. However, now that the Uchiha clan is still existent, maybe Orochimaru will put more effort into luring Sasuke." Pregnant pause, let them imagine what he could do.

"Don't give Sasuke any reason to leave then," the Uchiha patriach muttered for himself.

"I would have some anbu watching him to spot any unusual behavior, but with the situation of the village I can't. Even if I could, I'm afraid it may break the little stability there is between Konoha and the Uchihas if some were to discover Sasuke was under surveillance."

"I agree indeed, but we can take care of Sasuke. Thank you Hokage-sama and Jiraya-sama for the time you've given to my son." I got a nod in my direction. Yeah...I had not been extremely useful, I put in an appearance instead.

Needless to say, when I found myself in Tsunade-san's office with Mei-sensei, I was a little bit lost.

Especially when they told me what they wanted me to do for Sasuke in case Konoha failed at bringing him back.

"I'm sorry but...what?"

"You've heard me. In case Sasuke defects to Orochimaru and Konoha fails to bring him back, Kiri's Resistance will take him in until the coup happen," the Hokage said firmly, her hands crossed in front of her mouth. "If you were in the area at the moment it would be a plus." Poor Sasuke, he was...he was being reduced to an Orochimaru bet, an object almost.

"Understood. I guess he'll be kept in the dark?" The tint of irritation in my voice made Tsunade-san raised a brow at me. Sensei elbowed me in the ribs and I ducked my head. "Forgive my..."

"It's fine, knowing your case and your attachment to Sasuke, I understand you find this situation frustrating."

Before leaving Konoha, I went to see Sasuke. Unknown to him, when I ruffled his hair, I put an Hiraishin marker on his scalp. I didn't like putting markers on people I knew and cared about, but _if_ I was needed, then I would need to be fast.

Man, I _really_ wanted to tease Utakata-senpai right now.

So even if Naruto was sad to see me leaving again, like Mom or Sasuke, this time when I walked through the gates of Konoha, I didn't look back. I had my priorities.

Unfortunately, it wasn't Konoha or people I cared about living in it for now.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :)**

 **nevvy:** **Thanks for the reviews. Also, I can't say anything about how Itachi feels as the relationship aspect of the fic will be more explored in the Shippuden era. Even for old Itachi :)**

 **Ederisu: Thanks for the review :)**

 **Bye**


	35. Kiri Resistance Arc: Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 12/13**

 **Shisui: 21**

 **Kakashi: 26**

* * *

"I'm home!" No answers. I threw my stuff on my couch and went to my bed. Haku probably used it during my absence, we were alternating between the couch and the bed. I probably should go to the hospital or tell Yagura I was back and alive, but I was too tired. And Haku was not even home.

Let's sum up. Suna, or more like the Sand Siblings, left around the same time than us and now owe a debt to Kiri, but with Yagura still ruling it's not very good. They know the Akatsuki is after the bijuu, and so do we.

I shouldn't run into Konoha for a while, I was not responsible for the communication between the Resistance and Konoha after all. Tsunade-san, knowing the relation between Yagura and the Kyuubi attack still support us, but it was quite complicated with the village being rebuilt. It was not as if we needed a lot of them from what sensei quickly told me on the way home.

Konoha would help us protect the civilians once they were sure it was the Sharingan manipulating Yagura in the shadows. Soon, Zabuza-san would go to the Land of Wave, with sensei hopefully, to ask for shelter for the civilians. With Konoha protecting them and saving the Land of Wave before, it should be okay. However, to check our claim, or more like mine, about an Uchiha being responsible, it would be logical of them to send an Uchiha. Just for intern political reasons.

As for me, I needed to go back to Uzushio, one way or another, and find more stuff about my seal and its connection with the jinchuriki. Test the back up seal Minato came up with.

Probably find a new suitable host for Isobu.

However, with the Akatsuki attacking Konoha, a spiteful feeling was in my guts. If Obito really cared about having Kiri under his control, would he use the Akatsuki to defend it? Not...all of them, it would be stupid but...

Fuck, if some of the Akatsuki members that we've already met, us, Kiri-nin, showed up, it would be bad. Like, very, very bad. Especially with Hoshigaki-san and Dad, who knew the village.

Wait, did they even know Obito, or 'Madara', was the chief of the Akatsuki? Old Naruto told me they discovered his real identity _during_ the war, but there was Rinnegan dude in the Akatsuki.

Yep, no, not happening today. I'll do what sensei had been telling me since I got back to Kiri: focus on Yagura and the Resistance.

I closed my eyes.

I opened them right away when I heard voices. 'Right away' might have been a mistake on my part as the morning lights were barely there outside.

"Yoooo, she lives!" I groaned at Suigetsu entering my room and buried my face in my pillow. "Haku, you don't have a bed anymore!"

"That's fine, she seems to need sleep and maybe food. Us too by the way," Haku replied with what seemed to be relief in his voice.

"Bring me takoyaki," I mumbled in the pillow and Chōjūrō delicately raised my head so that I repeat my order. I hugged my blanket tighter and closed my eyes as he placed my head back on the pillow. As I fell back asleep, I heard Suigetsu complaining about not being the designated food-boy and still being treated as such. So when I woke up, I wrapped the blanket tightly around my body and moved from my bed to the couch. My stuff seemed to have been put away and the apartment was tidier than when I arrived. "Haku, have I mentioned you were an angel?"

"You have," he told me, putting a box of lukewarm takoyaki in my open hand. "More than once." I nodded and looked up at Suigetsu and Chōjūrō who were eating and talking at the small kitchen table I had.

My place became too small when I was given my team. When you entered my apartment, you were in a small living room with just a couch and a bookshelf, weapons and storage scrolls in it, and right after a kitchenette with a table against the wall under the window with three chairs. On the right side of the living-room and kitchen, there was two doors leading to a bedroom and a bathroom.

Yeah, when Haku moved in we started lacking space to move around. I could seal a lot of shit in scrolls though and it was a great way to save space.

"So, from the flak jacket, you three became chuunin?"

"Yeah, Mangetsu-senpai gave your report and Konoha seemed to have send something when the next Hokage arrived. Mizukage-sama judged we did the mission to the best of our abilities," Chōjūrō told me with a small blush of pride on his cheeks.

"But he's pissed at you and said you were gonna regret looking so weak," Suigetsu added with a smirk. I ducked my head, already sulking about what Yagura had in mind.

"Uzu-sensei..."

"You're a chuunin now, I'm no longer your sensei. And I've told you not to call me that Haku."

"Uzu- _nee_ ," he corrected himself and I sent him a toothy grin. He shook his head in what seemed to be resignation at my antics and gazed at me with concerned eyes. "You're not sick, are you? We saw Dai-san yesterday and he was...concerned over your case. He mentioned some psychotic episodes?"

"Remind me to tell him to respect medical confidentiality next time I see him," I sighed and swallowed my last takoyaki, keeping the pick in my mouth. "It's not a disease or life threatening as far as I know. An Uzumaki thing I need to deal with and I had a temporary paranoia. I'm good now." Crap, even Suigetsu had a grave face. I waved their worry off. "I'm fineeeeee, the voice in my head has not talked to me since I fainted and almost died!" They looked even worse and I swore that Haku almost knock me on the head.

"Voice?" Suigetsu repeated, looking as if he was really scared for my sanity. "I know you've always been out of it since the Mizukage forced you into the shinobi business, but..."

"It's not a bad voice, it helps her with her seals," Haku cut him off. Right...he'd already heard me snapping at oji-chan out loud because we didn't agree on something.

"But you really have a voice in your head?" I rolled my eyes at Chōjūrō and placed a finger on my lips.

"Keep that for you, it's not the time to worry about something like that."

"Yeah, you have something else coming though. Mangetsu will fight you tomorrow," the youngest informed me. I raised a brow and he crossed his arms with a frustrated pout on his face. "You're gonna have the test to know if you're in the Swordsmen or not." I blinked and looked at Chōjūrō, who nodded.

"I'll have it too. You've been sleeping for two whole days you know." My eyes became open wide. Two days!?

"I can't fake my defeat either huh?"

"Nope!" Suigetsu grinned at me a taunting grin. "And if you pass, you'll have your teeth filed!" I froze. Right, the rite of passage. Suigetsu did it to himself and Mangetsu had to ask the guy who takes care of it to set them right, but Chōjūrō went through it when he officially became Mangetsu's successor in training. I had been delaying it as much as I could but...I put a hand on my mouth. I didn't want to have shark teeth!

"Any...anyway," I stuttered weakly, running my tongue on my teeth maniacally, "what did I miss? Your first mission as chuunin, how was it?"

"No different than before," Haku answered with a shrug of his shoulders, and the three of them were filling me up on what I had missed.

Yep, I missed them.

The next day, I took my sweet time stretching whereas Mangetsu was testing Chōjūrō with his sword. Yagura was next to me with Genji, one of the Elder who barely could stand on his legs. Strangely enough, Yagura barely spared me a scornful look before focusing on the fight. We were in a special training room in the Mizukage building, right under the reunion room that used to be use for the Swordsmen reunion when...it was fully active.

"Alright," Mangetsu yelled, stopping the fight after a hammer like sword destroyed the floor. "Alright, you pass. Take care of Hiramekarei for me now. Uzu, get here!" I took Nuibari and went in front of him. "Alright, I have a regular sword, I'm gonna test how well you use Nuibari and her particular abilities." I stretched one last time my shoulders and arms and charged.

We exchanged normal blows, and the more ours swords clashed with each other, the more I wrapped the string around my fist. My Hiraishin tag wasn't budging from the handle so it was good and no, it wasn't cheating because I could remove it from the sword.

Or maybe it was, I didn't care enough to find out.

I jumped and my blade clashed with Mangetsu's in an ear-piercing sound of metals grating. He pushed me back and I threw Nuibari. It went through him but I twitched my hand around the string I still had and made it change the direction with some chakra. It went around a pillar of the room, and another, and Mangetsu again, and another until I teleported myself to it and pulled on the sword, cutting clean Mangetsu at his ankles. Of course, he liquefied himself and crawled under the string to go next to me. When he was in a human shape again, he grinned at me and lightly punched me in the shoulder.

"Hey, I'm a great teacher in the end!"

"Or I'm a great student." He raised a brow at me and I smirked. "Okay, you're awesome, happy?"

"Uzumaki." I turned to look at Yagura and spat when his fist made contact with my stomach, knocking the air out of my lungs. There was no bone in that area to break, but it...hurt like hell... "Mangetsu, take her now before she can fight back."

"Understood." Mangetsu put me on his shoulder, the pain in my stomach paralyzing me. Fuck, did he use some of Isobu's power in that punch? I swore my legs were twitching because of the impact. I felt cold sweat rolling down my back when Mangetsu took the direction of the mountain around Kiri. There was one house there, with a crazy dude living in it. He made lots of weapon and they were good, but he was... "Stop fidgeting, it's mandatory!"

"I want to keep my teeth!" I whined in a raspy voice.

"He won't pull them out of your gum."

"I want to keep them as they are! Perfect on the top, slightly crooked on the bottom!" Yet, I was dropped in a chair and the crazy guy with wild white hair arrived from the back. I started to struggled but I was strapped to the chair. I tried to use Hiraishin, but Yagura must have pulled some nasty move on me because I couldn't mix my chakra to save my life.

My eyes went wide and Mangetsu had to push down on my shoulders to keep me from fidgeting when the guy, Natto, approached me with a wide crazy grin and a metal file in his hand. I never liked going to the dentist, I didn't want my teeth filed! So much I felt an actual tear rolling down my cheek. I shot a pleading look at my supposed best friend, who averted his eyes from me.

"It's a bad moment, it will be over before you know it."

"Treat...enapilndetoi..." Oh boy, he was liming my right upper canine. It didn't hurt strictly speaking, it was like a nail against a chalkboard, but it was in my mouth and going through my entire body. Mangetsu had to put one of his leg across mine to keep me from trying to kick Natto. He looked absolutely ridiculous and not stable at all.

"One done!" Natto exclaimed with glee and I blinked. Already. "Now time to do the incisor next to it."

I closed my eyes and focused. Mix your chakra, mix it...to your marker in your apartment...

I smirked as much as I could and managed to give them the finger before using Hiraishin.

"How did it go?" Haku asked me, relaxing in his pink yukata. I showed him my two beautiful limed teeth, still warm, and the dust of enamel in my mouth. He gaped and I ran to the bathroom, his footsteps following me swiftly. I froze in front of the mirror and touch my teeth. They were sharp, way too sharp for teeth, and stood out among my regular teeth. I closed my mouth. We didn't see them when my mouth was close, but if I smiled a little too much, if my lips opened a little bit too much, my limed teeth ended on my lower lip.

"I'm...disfigured," I snorted, "I didn't want to and they tricked me, Mangetsu tricked me...I'm ugly now!" Unlike some people may think, I cared about my look and that...that shouted 'KIRI' to everyone. It was a farewell to a regular life, and for good. Fuck, no matter what, if I came across a shinobi they'd see my affiliation with the Hidden Mist right away!

"You're not Uzu-nee," Haku told me firmly and walked up next to me, looking at me on the mirror. "You're not just your teeth."

"But now, if I ever wanted to retire and live incognito in the future, it's impossible. Yagura knows that, he wanted to physically show that...and Mangetsu was there!"

"It was an order."

"I know but...fuck, I have shark teeth!" He ran his hand in circle in my back to soothe me, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from the mirror.

Naturally, when Mangetsu came over later and tried to apologize, I very maturely refused to open the door of my bedroom. I could hear Dai and Haku speaking between them as Mangetsu was trying to coax me out of the room.

"...and it was a direct order from the Mizukage, I feel terrible please open the door!" It wasn't locked to begin with. I got up and slightly opened the door, enough for his purple eye to see my glare. "Uzu I swear I..."

"Move!" Dai yelled and pushed his head to replace him. "Open your mouth!" I stared flatly at him and ever so slowly opened my mouth. He was left speechless. "It..."

"I'm disfigured and my best friend betrayed me," I whispered, going back to bed. They stood there, frozen and gaping at me like the idiots they were. "What?"

"But...but I thought I was your best friend!" Dai protested, almost smashing my door open. "With all the hours spent together working on medical seals and...and..."

"Mangetsu is my first and best friend," I stated and his face fell whereas Mangetsu was smirking smugly behind. "Dai, you moron, we were born literally feet from each other the same day, you're more like the twin I have to endure whether I want it or not." He blinked at me and scratched his cheek sheepishly.

"That...that's good too!" He sat on the floor with his legs crossed and I heard the front door closing, signaling Haku left us. I raised a brow at Dai, and Mangetsu who sat next to him. As a reflex, I activated the seals around my place. "We have a question for you."

"A...question?"

"What's that seal on your stomach Uzu?" Mangetsu asked sternly, staring straight into my eyes. My eyes went back and forth between them and I sighed, raising my top. I put my hand above my stomach and sent some chakra to it, the black fuin symbols appearing.

"This one? If I tell you, you'll believe me?" They exchanged a look and nodded, not an once of hesitation on their faces.

"I need to know why you were psychotic when you woke up," Dai insisted on.

"It's...a kinjutsu. The seal represents the Shinigami in a way."

They stared in silence and I bit my lower lip, accidentally drawing blood.

It...was not going to be an enjoyable moment, I could feel it. Their faces frozen in blank ones did not help either.

* * *

I dropped on my knees at the hideout, my body almost completely bruised. Utakata-senpai caught me before I was totally on the floor and took in my state with wide eyes before cursing.

"He made you pay for Konoha," he guessed and I whined in pain as a reply. Yagura beat me up for an hour straight. "Dai is not here today, I'll try to fix you up as much as I can." I mumbled a 'thanks' and he carried me to a bed in the infirmary. He did fix me up as much as he could, so basically medicinal plants mixed together applied on the bruises to make them heal faster and bandages.

"So...how have you been?" I asked him in a hoarse voice. He shrugged and told me the last things that happened at the hideout, how Kimou and Harusame-san finished the genjutsu seals to replace the civilians. How his master made more chakra concealing seals based on mine but personalized, and how Zabuza-san went to patrol the small fishing harbor on the west coast of the island to get a boat for the trip to the Land of Wave. It was risky, but as an ex anbu, he knew how not to be seen. "Senpai, is there something else?"

"Dai, Mangetsu and you...did you have a fight?" I grinned at that, ready to tease him about his worry but when he squinted, I covered my teeth. "You ran before the end, that's a first. You usually never manage to run away." His smirk made me glare, and I sighed. Yagura also beat me up about that, before saying not having all of them limed was not that bad after all.

"We didn't have a fight, I just...told them something, a secret that more and more people know, to my biggest despair." Utakata-senpai hummed at that, his arms crossed over his chest, bare and visible thanks to his blue kimono. To be fair, they both believed me, me and my reincarnation story. Mangetsu and I were fine, and he understood quickly from my look that he had died long before me in my past life. It was the thing that made Dai distant. That Mangetsu and I were dead and that in some kind of parallel future, he was the last one alive of the team with his sister.

"It must be a big secret for Dai to be quiet for so long." I frowned at the fake innocent look on his face. He was a jinchuriki, Saiken probably...

"Your little friend told you there was something off with me huh?"

"What I know is that you've mentally changed, but in a good way, since you came back, and you kept Master from trying something that would have him killed," he replied flatly, amber eyes going back to me. "Maturity doesn't happen that fast, and knowing how you were before you were 'abducted', it's not really believable of you to go to Konoha without an ulterior motive." Geez, he really knew me. He called me mature too, didn't he?

"Shukaku insulted me," I whispered faintly, "Isobu and Yagura are trying to weaken the genjutsu on their side." He opened his eyes wide at that. "Sensei knows, and...does Saiken know something about it?" There was a small silence and he sighed.

"Supposedly, you can reach the furthest spiritual plan of a jinchuriki if you upgrade." I raised my brows and he shrugged. "Something about a potential offensive way to use it but it's extremely secret. I think you can find stuff in Uzushio, but who knows if it's still there now after so much time?" Point for him.

"I'll figure something out to go there, sensei wants me to too. Do...do people like me have a name?"

"At the beginning, they were called 'Yuurei' but then it was 'Spirit of the Future'." Maybe because of the change of the cause in the use of the technique? From fixing mistakes and tragedies to purely expand the Uzumakis' sealing techniques?

"Thanks senpai, thanks Saiken...it's good to have a name to put on a condition."

In theory, clans kept their secret in some kind of hidden room within the compound. I'd need to find the main house of the Uzumaki clan and look for...upgrades? Yeah, upgrades sounded good. I didn't hear from oji-chan since the attack too, it was worrying. Maybe I needed to 'reconnect' now I had more souls in my seal.

"For...the back-up seal...I'd need chakra from Isobu...we also need it to find a compatible host...shit, so much to do still..."

"You won't be useful if you're in that state, I'll get some water."

"Love you too," I teased him and he tensed, the usual glare coming back.

"And I'll poison it to be sure you don't wake up." Nah, he loved me too much.

The continuous pain in my body dulled thanks to one of the stuff Utakata-senpai gave me. I laid there, on my back, almost closed eyes staring blankly at the gray ceiling above me. Was it strange of me to find this place comforting? We were missing a lot of things and I wasn't one of the permanent shinobi here, but being within people who were fighting for, or against the same thing had a comforting feeling to it. I didn't feel the loneliness always lingering in a corner of my mind that I was trying so hard to forget, to ignore everyday. It was okay with people who were still alive in my past life, because I knew if they made it once without my presence, they could do it a second time.

The loneliness, however, was always there when I was with people I knew and who died before. I would forget it sometimes, but I knew it was there, waiting to crawl back up in the middle of the night. I was perfectly aware of what it meant.

I was terrified at the idea of having them back and losing them a second time. It was there when I was with Mangetsu, but also Utakata-senpai, Harusame-san, Naoto, even Yagura and Zabuza-san.

I was trying my best not to think of Konoha because...it was even more sensitive because of Itachi and Mom. Of course Shisui too but Itachi...I had his kids, he was family, Sarada used to call me 'oba-san' and even this version of Itachi was kind of family to me. Deep down, even if I wasn't in Konoha and had nothing to do or owed nothing to that village, I would feel guilty if they died.

However, it was surprising how much Saiken knew about being a Yuurei.

Huh, it had a nice ring to it.

I surprisingly had a few days of break where I was just spying on Yagura for sensei and going on patrols. Nothing too interesting between that and training. I _was_ figuring out a way to push the marker on my kunai to the earth, and it turned out doing that with storage seals was easier because no living entities or chakra entities were in the equation.

Fuinjutsu was as fascinating because of its endless possibilities as it was incredibly frustrating. The slightest millimeter counted in the making of a seal, and if you were not precise enough then your seal would be unstable. Hence why making seals in fights required such a high level of chakra control and years of prior experience in the field, to be used to seals.

Later, when I was back in the village, I was assigned a mission in the Land of Grass with Naoto. However, the day before leaving, I went to the hospital to see Dai. I found myself in front of Mangetsu in front of the entry of the cylindrical stone building, the mist around us not hiding our surprise.

"Weren't you on a mission?"

"I just left the Mizukage's office, I thought I'd get Dai to talk to me because I _am_ alive. You?"

"I have a mission tomorrow. I thought I'd get Dai to talk too." We stared at each other in silence and went into the building as one man. People actually moved out of our way. Well, Mangetsu was famous in the village and so was I. So when we barged in Dai's office at the latter's surprise, nobody dared say anything, especially after we slammed the door behind us.

"The fuck do you think you're doing you two!?" he barked at us and looked daggers at us. I frowned and Mangetsu walked up to him to grab him by the collar of his white coat. "Mangetsu let me go!"

"No, stop avoiding us you moron or one day you might regret it!" Mangetsu hissed at him with anger and Dai blanched at that, eyes filled with worry. "Stop pretending what Uzu said was not true, I can deal with you but she dealt with enough dead people already, don't make it hard for her when you were alive." It was nice of him to talk about me as if I wasn't even here but...well, he wasn't wrong I guess.

"Don't you get it?" Dai asked him quietly and I noticed how tense his shoulders were. "I'm the medic of the team, I'm supposed to fix you up. How could I be the last one alive? I..." I joined them and weakly knocked my knuckles against his temple. Conflicted and guilty emerald eyes shyly looked up in my own apologetic ones.

"It was a suicide jutsu and I knew it, I was a mother and didn't think twice about his safety," I whispered to him softly. "Do I regret it? I don't know, at least I know they survived. But we're alive now, even Mangetsu and that's not something I was expecting. I've already turned the tide by saving just one man, we need to fight now." Dai blinked back tears and I slide my arms around his waist, which was weird considering Mangetsu still had his hand firmly grasping his coat. "I'm still here this time."

"And we won't let you run back to your Uchiha boyfriend without fighting back, right?" Mangetsu replied and let go of Dai, staring at him with expecting eyes. Dai nodded slowly and wiped the snot threatening to come out of his nostrils, his other arm around my frame.

"You're right," the medic muttered, "I'm not letting this freaky eyes taking her away a second time. With what he made us believe he could get her in some kind of weird BDSM shit..." I flushed at that, knowing he was thinking about Shisui. "She can do it if she wants to but he could make her do stuff with his eyes and..."

"We get it, we get it..." I mumbled, as red as a tomato. I left his office, yet they were both at my place by evening, food in hands.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :) I wanna thanks Ederisu, Tonegawa Rie and the guest who left reviews :). I want to clarify something too. As of right now, I'm writing the chapter 37 and I, the author, have NO idea of who Akane might end up with, if she ends up with someone. This is a slow-burn (I would put it in the summary if I had enough space to write it) and I really want to explore the characters and make them grow, especially the ones I come up with or those the show/manga didn't show a lot. We have the entire Shippuden part for which I have ideas, for both Itachi and Shisui, but all the secrets of her conditions have not be uncovered yet and it will have an impact on her view of romance in that life time. I understand you guys want scenes where there are improvements in her relationships with Shisui or Itachi, but please keep in mind there is still a lot of time for them to evolve. Feelings will be there, be it obviously present or implied or even denied, but I'm not forgetting any of our Uchiha boys, even if it may seems like it. Different arcs will bring different situations, keep that in mind :).**

 **Bye**


	36. Kiri Resistance Arc: Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 12/13**

 **Shisui: 21**

 **Kakashi: 27**

* * *

Kiri was separated from the continent. As much as the four other Great Shinobi Nations didn't know a lot about what was happening on the many islands constituting the Land of Water, we did not know a lot about what was happening on the continent. Because of that, ever since the foundation of Kiri, the Mizukage regularly sends shinobi to be informed of any new conflicts and if it would be interesting for us to join or not.

Right now, we were going near Kusagakure. No reports had been sent for the past two weeks and Yagura wanted to know why. Last time we heard from the team, they were near the Hōzuki castle. The surroundings of Kusa were peaceful until you reached the border with the Land of Earth.

We didn't waste time in the Land of Fire, running through it with barely any break.

We stopped in the grass, the famous prison visible in the distance. I looked up at Naoto, who probably had the most serious of faces under his white and red mask.

"I can't feel anyone around," he informed me and I started to search for any clues about what happened to the team. We spent the rest of the day rummaging through the area, my wolf friend coming to help us at some point. There was nothing to be found, but Naoto and Seihitsu stopped from moving when the sun was starting to set.

"You have something?"

"It's faint, but there are traces of chakra in the air," Naoto told me before Seihitsu growled dangerously.

"I smell blood. They must have gotten rid of the bodies already."

"We confirm the deaths and then Dad will deal with the rest. There's no reason to pick up a fight with the Hidden Grass."

"We would be the bad guys anyway," I added, stretching my arms in front of me. "We're the ones with basically spies here. Seihitsu, you can go home now, thanks for your help." He nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Let's find a place to rest."

"Hum..."

"Something else you wanna say?"

"I smell chakra in the air, lots of it. Like a fight or something."

"I've heard there were still fights in this country, but at the border with Iwa. Are we far from it?"

"Not that much. We don't have good relations with Iwa either, we better be extremely careful."

We didn't rest a lot, but it was enough by shinobi standards, so the next day we tracked down the faint lead we had, making us go to the north more and more. I put my chakra concealing seal on when Naoto told me there was more and more chakra around. We soon found ourselves looking over a field of dead bodies rotting in the sun. We jumped down and I turned one of the corpse, pulling a face at the smell of decay in the air. He was wearing Kusa symbol though.

"Found them!" Naoto stated and I ran up to him, looking over the three chuunin wearing Kiri emblem, or more like the rests of the bodies. I raised my head and scanned the area. Further away from us, I could spot some Iwa shinobi on the ground. Fights...were as murderous as ever. "Akane, there is someone watching at eight o'clock."

I grabbed a marked kunai and threw it to teleport to it once it stopped. I took it and placed it on the person's throat and my brows almost disappeared in my hairline behind my mask when I was met with terrified crimson pupiless eyes. That...from the crimson hair, it was Karin, wasn't it?

"Pl...please don't..." she stuttered weakly, her knees shaking. Geez, wasn't she a kunoichi? Why would they send her on the field with that kind of behavior and clear lack of skills? I looked at her from head to toes and my question was answered when I saw the bite marks of her arms. So, she could do the Heal Bite, no wonder they sent her here then. "Don't kill me..."

"Are you doing that willingly?" I asked her coldly and I kept myself from sighing in exasperation at her puzzled look. "The Heal Bite, are you doing that willingly or is Kusa exploiting your Uzumaki blood?" She widened her eyes and I put my kunai away, firmly grabbing her shoulders when she tried to escape. "I won't hurt a relative of mine, even if they're distant ones. I'm an Uzumaki too."

"Really?" she inquired in a shy voice. I nodded and moved my mask enough for her to see the left side of my face. She blinked uncertainly and I put my mask back.

"So, you're doing it willingly? There are risks about doing that too often and..."

"Mom died," she cut me off with wide eyes, tears threatening to spill at any moment. "They...she used to say she had to do it because they let us stay but I...I saw her body and the bite marks and since then..." I felt frustration and anger bubbling inside of me. Fucking assholes, they sucked her mother dry. "I'm gonna die too."

"If this continue, probably. The fights aren't gonna stop any time soon. What's your name?"

"Karin." Ah, I got her name right.

"I'm..."

"Akane what are you doing? I've already disposed of the bodies." Naoto pipped up appearing next to me. "An Uzumaki?"

"Can I bring her with us pretty please?" I asked him with my hands clapped together.

"Are you crazy or..."

"Not Kiri itself, but..."

"I don't think..."

"Please?"

"Isn't Haku enough?"

"Pretty please?"

"Seriously you can't bring every kid you see..."

"Come on!" I whined and he sighed.

"She has to defect Kusa."

"Karin, do you want to come with us and leave that shitty rat hole that's exploiting you?"

"I..." She must have felt my expecting eyes because she flushed a deep crimson red, like her hair, and absently nodded. "It won't be as bad as here?"

"Kiri forced me into their ranks because I'm an Uzumaki too, I don't have the Heal Bite but they saw potential." I heard Naoto facepalming against his porcelain mask but I couldn't care less. Yeah...I really despised it when people were used like tools. Hence why I was one of the biggest hater of the shinobi system. It was legit bullshit.

"I'll come then," she whispered quietly, clenching her fists on the fabric of her shorts. A genuine smile appeared on my face, even if she couldn't see it. One of the thing I liked when I was pulled out of Kiri by Shisui in my past life was how I was glad to turn a blind eye to every injustice the shinobi system caused. I was aware, but didn't do anything. Now...I was trying, and helping Karin could be helpful for later.

"Let's go home then!"

As Karin was only going at genin speed, I ended up giving her a piggyback ride. The journey was going on smoothly until the border with the Land of Fire, where Karin told us there were at least three high level jounin around, one going straight to us. I gave a marked kunai to Naoto and he scrammed with Karin, leaving me to deal with the incoming. I barely had the time to widen my eyes when I recognized the red eyes and black curls of one Uchiha Shisui. I jumped down before he could hit me.

I couldn't look at him in the eyes. Would he even recognize me with my ANBU mask on?

"What's Kiri doing here?" he asked me coldly and I bit my lower lip. He...never talked to me like that, it was the shinobi I had in front of me. And _I_ was the enemy.

However, I had to block him one way or another. He was great in genjutsu though, and it was the one field I was not that comfortable with.

So I used the Hiding in the Mist Technique and summoned Nuibari. I couldn't take any risks. I checked over the Hiraishin tag on the blade. It was still there, good.

Let's go over what I knew about Shisui's fighting skills. He was on Itachi's level.

Okay, it was a very bad way to start.

Shisui was a genius too, very powerful Mangekyou and more than good at genjutsu. He had the Sharingan, he could see through my moves but not through the mist. He could use Katon and the body flicker. I could use Hiraishin and the body flicker, because I had to learn how to use it before jumping straight into the Hiraishin speed. I still broke my ankle when I finished the formula but hey, nobody's perfect. Back to Shisui, he could use a sword, great at taijutsu and shurikenjutsu.

Fuck, I hated being on the opposite side of an Uchiha.

I ducked quickly when Shisui appeared in front of me, his sharingan spinning fast in his eyes, and he tried to punch me. I threw Nuibari under his arm and teleported to it, throwing it again quickly when Shisui followed the string. However, mist was around us. He was too fast for my Hyōton, but I could use my Hyōton to slow him down by dropping the temperature around us through the humidity of the mist.

So I did, and felt a wave of pride going through my body as Shisui was successfully being slowed down, Nuibari having made a beautiful maze of very sharp strings. Shisui wouldn't be too hurt by it, but it would be enough to trap him. At least I hoped, because the element of surprise was my biggest weapon right no...

"Hyōton?" he said out loud, making me raise a brow. Already? "I thought all kekkai genkai users were hunted down in Kiri, yet you're an anbu. Strange." Fuck you and your brain Shisui! "You're still going to tell me what you are doing in this country, that you want it or not." Talk about hostility. I didn't have the time for that, especially with the green rib cage that stopped my sword. "I don't have the patience to deal with Kiri."

I growled and teleported to my sword, put an explosive seal on the green bone through my feet because I needed a big explosion to destroy that Susanoo's bone. I jumped down, took my sword and teleported to another marker as my seal exploded, the mist disappearing at the same time.

Fuck me man, I didn't think that through.

Now I had a fucking giant fireball aimed at me. I went through hand seals fast and used the Big Waterfall Technique. The two techniques collided, creating vapor in the area. Shisui took this opportunity to body flicker in front of me. I watched his kunai going down to my throat, with the intent to kill, and I pretended to stab him in the head. He tilted his head, cold emotionless eyes looking down on me and I grinned.

I teleported behind him, put my hands on his eyes and used my Pupil Seal to block his sharingan as my knee pushed in the center of his back to drag him down.

Wait a minute...Shisui's body, even if still tensed, relaxed a little under my weight and I cursed my stupidity in my mind. Carefully, he craned his neck to look at me, onyx eyes blinking slowly at me almost as if he was trying to see me through my mask.

I was the only one who used that seal, I was the one who fucking invented it and Shisui was the first one to know about it in this time!

Dai was right, I wasn't good at fighting and not killing.

"ANBU?" he whispered to me, almost as if he needed to hear my voice to really, truly believe it.

"I had a promotion when I went back," I replied as quietly as him and he pursed his lips. I sighed.

"You can't kidnap a kid like that," he said, still not moving under me.

"I can't let Kusa use her like they do, like they did to her mom until it killed her," I hissed angrily at him, a veil of of understanding and turmoil covering his eyes.

I put an Immobility Seal in the middle of his back, where my knee was, and moved away from him. I left the two seals long enough for me to localize Naoto. Between the moment I stopped them and the moment I used Hiraishin, I, very maturely, gave Shisui the finger.

It reminded me too much of the Chuunin Exams against Yasuo, and childishly, my pride couldn't take it. Fucking Uchiha genius.

"So?" Naoto asked me when I appeared next to them, not twitching even a finger because he must have felt the slight surge of chakra in my kunai.

"Let's get out of here, it's..." I looked back at Karin when she yelped, the sound muffled behind her hands. Her eyes were wide with shock and terror. "What?"

"Your chakra..." Oh fuck me, again! "It's...it's like Death itself."

"I won't hurt you, try to ignore it."

I ignored Naoto's suspicious eyes on me, or how he muttered how my chakra stank rotten corpse.

That was predictable. I even felt heavier now I had more souls in my seal, even if I didn't hear from any of them.

It was starting to be disturbing.

* * *

"You _need_ to stop that Uzu, seriously," Mangetsu deadpanned at me, annoyed purple eyes not even looking at the shy redhead behind me. I innocently grinned at him and Utakata-senpai rolled his eyes and left the room.

"Come on, I won't bring her to Kiri until we win!"

"You barely can take care of yourself!"

"Now, you know it's not true."

"Right now, with what you've got on your plate, you can barely take care of yourself. How many times did Haku have to remind you to eat?" I didn't respond. You're busy doing fuinjutsu and suddenly you can't take care of yourself.

"Kimou!" I yelled as the whitish blond hair of the kunoichi appeared in the hallway. She turned her head, saw me and grinned, running with her arms wide open to me. "Please do me a fav..." I rolled my eyes when she kissed me on the lips. I was usually good at avoiding that much display of affection, but well.

"What?" she asked me huskily, snuggling against me, her arms around my neck.

"Would you take care of Karin for me as you're always here unlike me?" She blinked and her deep purple eyes looked at Karin. She tilted her head and nodded.

"Sure, one more Uzumaki can't hurt us."

"You need to tell sensei though."

Needless to say, having Terumi Mei staring sternly at you with her arms crossed and her lips pursed was not a pleasant thing to have.

"We are not an orphanage," she reminded me and I could see a tint of annoyance in her eyes. "Do you even realize what could happen if Kusa discovers we took her? It could ruin everything." I bit my lips. Right, I had not thought about that. How...stupid could I be...fuck, I was such a moron! "Now, what's done is done and I understand why you would take her with you. Karin-chan," She knelt in front of the slightly scared redhead, "would it be okay for you if you explain why Akane said Kusa was using you? We won't do the same thing, I promise. I don't want to lose my student a second time." I scoffed but it was ignored by them.

"I..." Karin raised her eyes to me and I smiled, trying to reassure as much as I could. I was the same when I arrived at the age of eleven, only it was Yagura and not Mei in front of me. "Heal Bite." Mei-sensei raised a brow and I cleared my throat to get her attention when I spotted her confusion.

"A trait some Uzumakis possess, we bite them and we're healed, even from life threatening injuries. Our stamina is restored but the user's chakra is quickly emptied, even if said user can bite themselves. However, the biting marks never leave." Yeah, I'll forget the image of Mom's stomach and the biting mark on it.

"Kusa has never stopped fighting, that explains...I understand Akane, I truly do, I'm not mad just..." She sighed but I knew what she meant. It would be harder to handle but she'll manage. I complained in my mind about the part I was playing but how stressed was sensei knowing she was handling everything? She gave orders, of course, but in the end we reported everything to her. I had a delicate and important job, but it was just a part of the Resistance. "Fine, did they give you a basic training in the medical field?" Karin slowly shook her head and I cursed under my breath. "They directly went for the easy way. Listen, soon we should have a medic here permanently. Once he's there, I'll have him teach you the basis and the technique to diagnose injuries. It is a formidable technique you can use, however it's stupid to use it for everything, and make you use it against your will. I want you to be able to tell by yourself if someone truly needs it, do you understand?"

"I..." She licked her dry lips, eyes wide with surprise, even if a slight trace of fear was still in it. "I could do that? Have...a choice?" Sensei smiled warmly at her.

"Of course, everybody should be able to choose for themselves. That's why this place exists." At Karin puzzle face, sensei seemed surprise. "Oh, that's right, I didn't properly introduce myself. My name is Terumi Mei, I'm the head of the Resistance of the Hidden Mist."

In the following week, I had a night out with Dai and Mangetsu, and Dai designated himself to be the sober one. Needless to say, Mangetsu was drunk way too fast because of his weird metabolism and I foolishly fell into his trap of a drinking game when he provoked me. Dai dropped the both of us to my place and, the two of us completely smashed, slept together. Not sex, but he crashed in my bed next to me and drooled on the mattress. Naturally, my brain, in its drunkenness, ignored the sound of my front door being almost destroyed in my living-room, or Haku's chakra fluttering way too fast.

"Uzumaki!" My eyes snapped opened and I sat up in my bed, fighting to keep the alcohol in my stomach. I rubbed my eyes, thinking the small man in front of me would disappear, but no.

"What...Yagura-sama? But...why? You're...in my bedroom and I don't live with you anymore and...what?" I stuttered with frantic eyes. I shook Mangetsu's shoulder but he just groaned whereas Haku stood stiffly at the entrance of my room.

"You're both drunk," he stated sternly. "Who were you with?"

"Dai," I replied with a puzzled look on my face. Yagura never came here, but once when I was too tired from a mission to go training. The Mizukage frowned thoughtfully.

"Drugged..." Mangetsu mumbled next to me, struggling to sit. "It wasn't just alcohol, there was something else too in our drinks I think..."

"Wha..."

"Your dear teammate drugged you and made sure you'd be drunk." I tilted my head and twitched my arm when Yagura narrowed his eyes at my behavior and utter ignorance. "There was an explosion, an attack, at the ANBU quarters. There were residues of lava."

"Lava?" Mangetsu repeated in disbelief whereas I was left speechless. Lava? Like...

"Funny enough, the Terumi siblings are nowhere to be found plus a dozen of shinobi from genin to ANBU level, including _Naoto_." Yagura was _pissed_. "Get up now, go to the lower districts and put people back in their places." Mangetsu got up and immediately bent over, throwing up everything in his stomach. I pinched my nose at the smell and fought the bile from coming out with the noise my friend was making.

"I..." I started, trying to use chakra to clear my head. But nothing. "I can't use chakra?" Yagura glared at me, and at Mangetsu who was dangerously swaying closer and closer to his vomit. I could taste alcohol in my furred mouth when I heard the squishing sound of his foot in his vomit. He slipped and fell backward. Yagura growled.

"Two of the most powerful shinobi of the village useless in a time like this, you're pathetic!" he screamed at us in anger and frustration. "You're useless as long as you're intoxicated with alcohol and drug, stay here, but tomorrow you'll be interrogated, got it!?" He stormed off and Haku glanced at us. I waved him off, making him understand to go back to sleep as I laid down on my bed, towering Mangetsu's face from the foot of the bed.

"You're cleaning that bastard, learn to hold your liquor."

"Shad'upp!" He fell back asleep, his feet covered in a brownish smelly liquid. I looked daggers at them and grabbed a paper and a brush. I drew a seal and put on my nose. Yeah, I wasn't going to clean his mess, I'd just suppress the smell for my nose. It would be enough.

I fell back asleep right when my head touched my pillow.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :) Thanks to Ederisu, Tonegawa Rie, BiancaGracePotterEverdeen and sarana154 for their reviews :) I've just started my third year of college, the hardest one, so if I don't post regularly, don't worry, it's just my studies that are taking a lot of my time :)**

 **Bye**


	37. Kiri Resistance Arc: Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 12/13**

 **Shisui: 21**

 **Kakashi: 27**

* * *

"I don't know. We went out for a drink and Dai decided to be the sober one. He dropped us both at my place around two in the morning as we were drunk and drugged," I said to the anbu in front of me, my cold eyes staring straight into his. It was normal that nobody was aware of absolutely everything going within the Resistance, of every little moves, but Mangetsu and I were usually told about most of them, at least the most important ones.

"Are you sure you did not see anything strange coming from any of the Terumis?"

"No, for the hundredth time I don't know anything." It was true, and I knew the same could be said about Mangetsu. We were two of the most 'trusted' shinobi of the village, directly under the Mizukage as we were Swordsmen, it must have been the reason but...but it hurt to know _Dai_ drugged us to have us out of the picture.

Needless to say when I finally left the ANBU's underground interrogation -torture- room, I stared for a long time at the rubble of concrete around me. There were injured persons, but no deaths. It was clearly intimidation and Yagura knew it as he was fuming. The lowest class' joy was cut short when shinobi were sent to 'calm them down', so intimidate them and beat the most tenacious one up. I wasn't there for that, or Mangetsu, as our stomachs were being flushed from the alcohol and drug. Suigetsu clearly had no idea of what was happening, like Haku and Chōjūrō.

To sum up, Kiri was one big mess right now, as sensei and Dai were both powerful and symbols of how the lower class could reach the top. Needless to say, there was hope lingering in the civilians' silence, and Yagura knew and hated it.

My eyes met Mangetsu's as he was waiting outside, probably thinking about last night. The mist seemed to be denser today, and we walked silently in the deserted streets of the village, the night slowly settling in. We really did spend the whole day being interrogated and I couldn't help the worry in the pit of my stomach. I knew it was coming, yet having been kept in the dark was making me insane. No matter how you looked at it, Dai and sensei defecting was huge, but that Naoto, Yagura's son, defected too was even more huge. It was a big middle finger to the way the Mizukage was ruling Kiri.

I knew it was coming but everything was going so fast that it was unsettling.

"Something's not right," Mangetsu muttered next to me as we entered the rest of the Hozuki compound. I'd always known it silent, but it was a different kind of silence. I saw the muscles of Mangetsu's arm twitched and my whole body tensed, ready to move and strike. We walked prudently to his house, the closest to the river going through the village, and I frowned at the lack of light. In Suigetsu's room. "Something's not right," he repeated and when he shot me a look, I nodded and summoned Nuibari.

"Suigetsu's not on a mission with the state of the village and...yeah, I'm pretty sure I can sense different chakra in there," I added. In the blink of an eye, I saw him thinking about the best way to handle the situation and showing me the roof, silently telling me to check the second floor first. Hopefully, I left marked kunai here too and I teleported to the backyard and jumped to Mangetsu's window. His window was rarely locked as we often came directly to his window in our genin days, so there was just an old seal of mine as a lock that Dai, Mangetsu and I knew how to deactivate.

I scanned the seal with my eyes and scoffed to myself. I was an amateur back then, better than Sasuke and Naruto, but nothing next to what I do now. In any case, I got in and silently left his room, messier than usual. I checked the floor and tried to sense other chakra in the manor, which made me stop in my steps when I distinctly felt Suigetsu, Haku and Chōjūrō downstairs. Not Mangetsu, because he was hiding himself, but it was strange. The atmosphere was too calm and tense to be normal, and what was the point of having no lights on if the three of them were here?

I cursed under my breath and took big steps when I noticed Fune, the housekeeper, motionless on the floor, a bucket of water spilled on the wooden floor next to her. I turned her over and raised a brow at her opened eyes and the senbon in her neck.

Wait a min…

My thoughts were stopped by the sound of fighting downstairs. If it was who I thought it was then…

"Uzu!" Suigetsu cried out when I appeared in the living-room. I sighed at Mangetsu wrestling Dai on the floor, three newly made chuunin watching them. I rolled my eyes and gestured to the chuunin to help me, which they did and I found myself between my teammates.

"I should punch you till your teeth fall off for keeping us in the dark and drugging us!" Mangetsu hissed, glaring daggers at the medic who smiled apologetically at him.

"I'm sorry, but it was Aneki's orders! We can't lose any of you two being so close to Yagura!" Dai's eyes found mine. "You get it, right Uzu?"

"I do." I pushed him hard enough for him to fall on his ass. "It doesn't mean it doesn't hurt a little to know you drugged us behind our back."

"But by not knowing you couldn't spill anything and you wouldn't be suspected!" He didn't get it, did he?

"We get that, it's just that we're a team and you went behind our back. We understand the reason, but it hurts because we trust you moron." I wasn't going to lie, the flash of regret and shame in his eyes felt good.

"Sorry?" he mumbled weakly and I nodded, pulling him up to his feet.

"That's better. So, what's next?" Suigetsu and Haku released Mangetsu from their hold and we all sat on the floor.

"Well, Aneki is going to go with Zabuza-san to the Waves, from what I understood someone from Konoha will be sent too, someone who knows about what's going on here." I widened my eyes. Kakashi? "Also, I don't know what he did, but Zabuza-san may have done something making Tenzen Daikoku guilty of crimes toward Kiri so hopefully one of you will be sent to kill him as he is also in Waves." Heh, from the look on Haku's face, it was better not to wonder what Zabuza-san did exactly. "Just, from now on, try not to get too injured on missions, okay? It will be better if you come less to the hideout too, Aneki will send you more information later on. Stay alive, 'kay? We're too close to fuck everything up right now."

I nodded, and just as Dai said, two days later, I was in Yagura's office with five other jounin as he was sending us on different missions. I was ordered to kill that Tenzen guy and just like that, I was out of the village for the first time since I got back from Konoha almost a month ago.

* * *

"You're putting me in charge of Team Seven instead of Kakashi-san?" Itachi repeated with obvious surprise. His senpai nodded next to Tsunade.

"Indeed, I need Kakashi on another important mission and with Sasuke's particular condition and Naruto, I want someone who can handle them. I know that having siblings in the same team can be challenging, especially if one is the superior of the other, but I trust you to make them work together just fine."

"Understood Tsunade-sama."

"Fine. Your mission is a B-rank, you have to escort the actress Yuki Fujikaze and the film crew to the Land of Snow. Kakashi has had a mission over there in the past during his ANBU days, here is information you might need. Keep them to yourself Itachi." The Uchiha nodded and took the folder his Hokage gave him, a single eyebrow quirking at the sight of three cinema tickets for the newest Princess Gale's story.

"A little gift from me, they need to be put in a certain condition sometimes for their teamwork to be truly efficient," Kakashi explained with his eye-smile.

"Go meet with your temporary team now, you'll leave tomorrow at six in the morning." Itachi nodded and left the office silently. Tsunade sighed deeply as Kakashi went in front of her. "Terumi officially defected her village by attacking it, apparently it's a real mess at the moment. She'll go to the Land of Waves with someone to negotiate the shelter given to Kiri civilians, go there and help them get it. We were primarily asked to protect the civilians, they want to deal with the fighting on their own. I can't say I blame them, having a Kage manipulated is the biggest sign of weakness you can have."

"Do we have information about who is behind the Mizukage then?" Tsunade frowned at that and crossed her hands in front of her face.

"I do, and I'll act in consequences once the time will be right. If what they told me, what they told Sarutobi-sensei is true, then it will have consequences in Konoha too and could create new tensions with Kiri and in Konoha."

If they could prove Akane's words about Uchiha _Obito_ , someone who had officially been dead for the last fifteen years, controlling the Fourth Mizukage who also happened to be the Sanbi jinchuriki and being the real mastermind behind the still hidden Akatsuki, then it would throw Konoha itself in chaos if it was badly handled. Not that Obito's identity would be revealed right away, but that an Uchiha with a powerful sharingan was roaming free outside of Konoha and could control a jinchuriki and Kage? It would be bad for them.

Especially knowing that if he could control a jinchuriki, he could control a bijuu too. Like the Kyuubi during that night where Minato and Kushina died.

It could create strong bonds between Kiri and Konoha for the first time in History if the Resistance won, just like it could create war.

As Kakashi left her office, Tsunade poured herself a cup of sake. They avoided a coup from the Uchiha clan five years ago, but it did not mean they were all happy. Tensions were less present, but still there, and she was perfectly aware some Uchihas would agree with Obito's behavior. It could be a great opportunity to really put the Uchiha clan to the test. Once she had the certainty the Sharingan was behind the situation in Kiri and the attack of the Kyuubi, she would tell Fugaku and tell him clearly that where he would position himself and his clan would be a new start for them.

Tsunade did not know if it would be good or bad, for them or for Konoha, but one way or another, what was happening in the Land of Water would have repercussions way further than their borders.

Itachi stared at his brother's team training, and mostly bickering, from his spot in the tree. He knew Sasuke's level and was explained by his father and Jiraya-san how Orochimaru's mark worked. He knew Naruto's level, so close and sometimes even a little bit higher than Sasuke's. But Sakura? She knew the theory of medical jutsu and because she did not have a teacher, she learned how to make and use poison. Shisui could not bring himself to stop mocking Sasuke when he accidentally drop a bomb Sakura gave him containing paralyzing gas and they had to bring him to the hospital.

However, Itachi briefly heard Akiko say she mentioned Sakura's great chakra control and interest in medicine to Tsunade. It could create a frightening combination.

"Hey," Itachi greeted, making his presence known when he jumped and landed next to them. The three genin stopped and stared at him with surprise.

"Itachi-nii?" Naruto called him, and to make sure he was not dreaming he rubbed his eyes.

"I'm replacing Kakashi-san for your mission tomorrow. We'll leave in the morning."

"What happened to Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked and blinked confusingly at him.

"He's being sent on another mission." Sasuke did not looked pleased though. Itachi knew Sasuke admired him when he was younger, but ever since the Chuunin Exams, he seemed irritated, and it only grew since Orochimaru marked him.

Itachi knew what was happening though. As Sasuke was now officially a shinobi, he was suffering from his older brother's reputation.

* * *

I firmly planted a marked kunai in a tree near Tenzen's little castle and infiltrated the place. It was easy. There was no shinobi in his ranks, so I used some micro explosion seals to destroy some locks, killed some of them with Nuibari in sometimes some pretty gory ways.

Those strings were way too sharp, the poor guy didn't see it coming and next thing he knew he was crying of pain because his ankles were bleeding where his feet used to be, said feet resting in front of him.

You should always be careful of where you're walking, so it definitely wasn't my fault.

In any case, I reached the basement quickly. Huh, in my past life I would have been more tired. I did improve a lot I guess. I stopped in the middle of it and crouched, placing my hands flat on the floor. I let my chakra flows outside of it and two explosion seals grew. I let them grew until they were up the walls and I smirked when I heard people coming toward me. I waved at the first two and teleported to my marker outside to make the seals explode.

Let me tell you, it was a lot of dirty money that burned into ashes, and my personal body count just went up by a lot right now. Oh well, I did feel a little bad but it was for my people so...I would be fine.

However, I might have made the seals too powerful, because the flames were starting to spread to the forest around. It would be a good occasion to test something though.

I was working on too many things in fuinjutsu at the same time.

I sprinted all around the fire, leaving many marked kunai around it and went in the circle I made. If there was something I had not done in a long time was barrier. I worked on it in my past life, the Sixth Hokage even asked me if I could potentially create artificial Adamantine chains with old Naruto as the guinea pig. It was more or less okay if he was inside without Kurama's help to begin with, and I could keep like a tenth of their strength inside the barrier.

I wonder how it went after my death.

In any case, I went through familiar hand seals and I noticed that, as a wave of chakra left my markers to form a dome, it was easier than before. Having my markers, basically portions of my chakra, dispersed around was making the barrier more stable.

How did I not think about that when old Kakashi asked me to come up with that!?

But it worked, the fire was contained. Now...I didn't have a lot of water left in my storage seal, I forgot to fill it. I'd need to waste more chakra.

"Suiton: Wild Water Wave Technique," I whispered to myself, spitting water above me. It wasn't compressed and it fell in a rain form on the ground, slowly extinguishing the fire. I dispelled the barrier right when there were no more risk of a forest fire.

"Tenzen-sama!" I heard someone yelled. I smiled at that, my two shark teeth grazing my bottom lip painfully. I walked silently toward the sound and my grip on Nuibari tightened when I spotted a man with a bloody and deformed arm.

I made sound on purpose and he turned his head to me, wide terrified eyes on me and my forehead protector. He got up and started running but I threw my sword, I was developing some kind of attachment to it by the way, and watched it piercing his skull as if it was butter, even though I heard the faint sound of bone cracking. I pulled my sword back to me, my finger less gloves tainted in red and other human rest and it made me realize, at the sort of paste they made, that I was covered in ashes. Of the building and probably of humans too.

I reached Tenzen, who had the bottom half of his body crushed under rubles. From what I heard, he was far from being a saint and in those cases, I felt little to no guilt at killing them. He was already dead though, so I cut off his head clean and sealed it away.

Now, I needed to reach the town to meet with sensei and Zabuza-san. But first, I needed a change of clothes and fast.

* * *

It was to be expected. It was to be expected since he saw Haku at the Chuunin Exams.

"Hatake," Zabuza snorted, his arms crossed on his chest and his famous sword carefully strapped to his back.

"Zabuza."

"Great, you already know each other!" Terumi Mei piped in with a smile on her face. "Kakashi-san, thank you for being here and helping us. From what Zabuza told me, Tazuna-san has gained a lot of respect since you've been here, so convincing him would be the fastest way to be sure of having a shelter for civilians."

It made a lot of sense, Kakashi could see everything was meticulously thought and revised. They had a lot of stakes in their fights. Plus, he knew that woman had been Akane's sensei, and she still called her that so she had the Uzumaki's respect and even admiration.

Terumi Mei was not just anybody and somehow, Kakashi was relieved they met in those circumstances where they were on the verge of being allied.

Tazuna was happy and surprised to see him, especially with Zabuza and someone who still had Kiri's symbol around her waist. As the three of them were slowly convincing Tazuna of having the Waves sheltering Kiri's civilians through political, economical and social arguments, they stopped when they heard Inari's screaming at someone. The door was opened brutally and slammed in the wall.

"Oh shit," Akane said as she blinked at the door in shame. "Sorry, your kid has been hitting on my nerves since I kept him from being eaten by a bear." She dropped Inari on the floor and the child winced in pain, before getting up and trying to punch her. She caught his wrist without even glancing at him. "Oh, hey sensei, Zabuza-san, and Kakashi I knew it would be you!"

"I'm guessing she's with you?" Tazuna rhetorically asked and they all nodded.

"You keep getting in troubles with random brats Uzumaki," Zabuza mocked her and she glared at him.

"Uzumaki? Like Naruto-nii-chan?"

"Yep," she replied. "Anyway, it looks like you have everything under control here, I'll take my leave _sensei_." Kakashi raised his hidden brow. Was it bitterness in her voice? "I can't stay here for too long, Yagura is on edge and even more on my back than usual." She turned around and left without a word.

"We will take Kiri's civilians in during your coup if Konoha gives us her word about sending shinobi here to protect them," Tazuna finally decided.

"Tsunade-sama will send a written promise about that. Thank you Tazuna-san," Kakashi said and as they left the house, the Leaf ninja tightening his traveling cloak around him, Zabuza took his sword and blocked a man's fist.

Kakashi and Mei jumped back, Kakashi quickly creating a clone to protect Tazuna and his family as Zabuza was pushed back.

"You fucking pieces of shit are gonna die," the man said. He was of a large build and had a beard. His clothing was a deep blue and he had a chain mail.

"Oh my...your name is Rahyō, you defected Kiri years ago with your sister Kahyō and her husband," Mei stated, the surprise in her eyes dying to be replaced by seriousness. "Why are you attacking us?"

"Because I won't let Kiri be here as long as I'm still breathing, Terumi brat. Your little friend won't get out of here alive either."

"Kakashi-san, please go find Akane. We'll take care of him and make sure he doesn't hurt anyone." Kakashi nodded and left, leaving the two missing-nin taking care of the third missing-nin.

* * *

When I saved the brat, I didn't get close enough to the bear to put an Immobility Seal on them, so instead I used the moisture in the air to block them in ice up to their mid-section. I was expecting to find them at the exact same spot I left.

I looked around me. I was at the spot, I was sure of that, but no bear. What…

I frowned, grabbed a kunai and blocked a sword between the big and small blade of my weapon. The words got stuck in my throat at the sight of an _ice_ sword. I raised my leg, put it on the ice blade, placed an explosive seal of it and jumped back, the explosion giving me more speed. I barely landed in the grass on all four, as my balance wasn't fully there because of the impact, my eyes fixed on the smoke in front of me. I knew she wasn't dead, and from the warm liquid trickling down my thigh, she made another blade _I didn't see_ and managed to get me by surprise.

Who was she?

"What's Kiri doing there? How did you freeze that bear?" she asked me sharply and I could make out curly long hair in the smoke.

"You'll have to forgive me, usually I don't really answer the questions of someone who attacked me," I replied with sarcasm. She frowned and pointed her remaining sword at me.

"You, the way you talk reminds me of someone I used to know." Oh for fuck's sake! "You're Uzumaki's daughter, aren't you?"

"Every person that compares me to my father ends up on my blacklist. Just so you know. How do you even know I'm from Kiri?"

"You may not be wearing your forehead protector right now, but the way you walk and your entire being screams 'shinobi'. Your teeth merely told me your affiliation." I knew it would happen dang it!

She charged at me, fast, so fast actually I managed to block her with Nuibari and gave her a blow back a second before her blade sliced my neck. She was _strong_ , as in real strong because I could feel coldness at my joints to slow me down. She was using the very same tactic I had used on Shisui and that Hyuuga Root member years ago. She had an Ice Release and _knew_ how to use it.

"So, what was it?" I body flickered on a tree branch and silently gulped at the ice swords forming in the air. "The purges? The social cast system?" She twitched. Huh, a lower class member then.

"I'm not going to talk about it to someone like _you_." I raised a brow. "Kekkai genkai users should be against Kiri if they have the chance to still be alive, yet you're one of those scums directly under the Mizukage!" Well, she wasn't completely wrong. "Hiding in the Mist Technique!" As mist appeared, I created a shadow clone, gave her Nuibari and went into hiding.

I put my chakra concealing seal on me and took three marked kunai. Getting more water would give her too much of an advantage, and she's as good as me in kenjutsu. I had Fuuton left, that she probably had too, and Fuinjutsu. Plus, the way she was trying to freeze me earlier was...off, almost as if it was trying to freeze me to death unless I was using something to keep me warm. Probably my chakra. But because I was also a Yuki, my body temperature could go lower than the average human being.

Just as my clone popped after circling the area with Nuibari's string, I used the Passing Typhoon Technique to blow the mist away and threw my kunai at her. Her three ice swords deflected them and flew toward me and I calmed myself down before catching one of them between my palms. I put a foot on each of the other two and put explosive seals of them, before teleporting to the kunai the furthest away from her. The swords exploded and I clenched my fists when a wave of cold went through my body and I had to use my chakra to keep my body to its minimal warmth.

"Hyōton: Earthen Consecutive Chains of Ice," I heard her say with a satisfied smirk dancing on her lips. I glared at her. "I have to say that I was expecting a random Ice user, but I had to drop your temperature considerably more than usual. You're not just anyone, you're one of the last Yuki clan member after all, like your father."

"Geez, couldn't you find a name even longer?" I snorted back and she frowned. However, I had bigger chakra reserves than average, so I still could fight. Not as much though, because I could feel myself getting tired faster.

Other ice swords came to me. It wasn't that the Hiraishin used a lot more chakra than the High Wind Technique, but with my attention split between the fight and keeping my body warm, I couldn't focus enough on my markers to be sure to land safely. So I used my Fuuton to destroy them, but the woman appeared in front of me and kicked me in the stomach, hard enough to make me spit blood, and then punched me in the left eye. She kept me in a choke hold for a few second but when I tried to grab her, her eyes went wide and she dropped me to jump away to safety.

She was right to do that, do not get within grabbing range of someone who fights with seals, it's like having a death wish. I couldn't put my Immobility Seal on the ground either because it wouldn't be stable on the earth.

I was in deep shit.

"Need a hand?" Kakashi asked me when he landed in front of me and I could feel his sharingan spinning, even if his back was facing me.

"I could use a hand," I admitted in a whisper. "I need to focus way too much to use Hiraishin, more than usual because of her technique..."

"I know, I was watching."

"Asshole." I blinked at the kunai he was showing me behind his back. The kunai I used on the bridge to save Haku that disappeared. Did...Kakashi have it all this time?

But I knew his plan.

He would keep her busy while I focus on properly using the Hiraishin. And he did, engaging her in taijutsu and ninjutsu. Kakashi ended up trying to stab her in her ribs but she caught his wrist. It was enough for me, even if I had to use hand seals, to teleport to it. I grabbed her shoulder and used Kakashi's arm as a support to throw my knee in her stomach. She coughed up blood and I put my hand on her abdomen.

"Fuinjutsu: Chakra Suppressing Seal." Immediately, the chain-like ice on my body melted away and I felt a heavy weight being lifted off of my shoulders. I didn't stop though. I placed an Immobility Seal on her and she dropped on the ground, her face against the wet grass. I knelt next to her and grab my ink and brush to draw a proper Chakra Suppressing Seal on the back of her neck, before canceling the one I made with my chakra.

The thing was, when you made a seal with your hands or feet directly, like I would do in fights, it kept draining your chakra the longer it stayed, whereas when it was with ink, it would run by itself until the chakra in it was no more, or would feed on the chakra source it was applied on, like now.

"That's Kushina-san's seal."

"It is," I confirmed and drew an Immobility Seal in the palm of her hand. "Thanks for the help Kakashi."

"You were in a bad situation," he reminded me dryly.

"I wasn't on the winning side yet, but I would have figured somehow. She wouldn't be alive though. Do you know who she is?"

"I believe her name is Kahyō, her brother attacked Terumi-san and Zabuza, they're currently dealing with it." I nodded and my head turned sharply to a bush to my left. A boy, not older than the brat of earlier, was standing there, Nuibari in his hands. In his shaking hands.

"Let my mother go!" he screamed at us.

"Your mother attacked me with the intention to kill yet I haven't killed her, so drop that weapon before hurting yourself."

"I know but let her go!"

"Kakashi, they defected Kiri a long time ago?" He shrugged and I sighed. "Look, Kahyō-san, there is a misunderstanding here. I might be a kunoichi from the Mist and a Swordsman, but it doesn't mean anything. Don't you wonder why a shinobi from Konoha help me?" I knew I had her attention from the way her muscles faintly twitched. "Kiri's about to change and I'll make sure of it." I turned her over and her blue eyes stared straight into mine. "You're a powerful opponent and I'd rather have you on my side than on the opposite team. Please help us change things."

Just before we all parted ways, Kahyō staying in the Land of Waves with her son Hakuhyō whereas her brother, who gave a very hard time to sensei and Zabuza-san, would go with these two to the Resistance hideout, Kakashi took me apart.

"What?" I blinked at him with a puzzled expression on my face when he patted my hair with a soft smile on his face.

"You grew up well Akane." I blushed at that and looked down at my toes. "I would have preferred to have you in Konoha, but you're really invested in Kiri's well being now."

"I wouldn't have my place in Konoha, as a kunoichi," I told him with blank eyes.

"It's not as if you could change anyway, right?" he asked me with a frown.

"Technically, the Sandaime asked me to join Konoha after Yagura was kicked out Kiri during the Chuuning Exams." Kakashi raised a brow, his hands now in his pockets. "I have a shiny forehead protector in the Hokage's office, because sensei would erase the law that made me a kunoichi of Kiri in the first place."

"You turned him down though," Kakashi continued with understanding in his eye, "because Konoha and Kiri are way too different for you to change and handle it." I nodded and raised my brows at his stretched hand. "Then, I can't wait for the day where I'll officially call you an ally of Konoha, Uzumaki Akane from the Hidden Mist." My bottom lip started shaking in disbelief. Kiri was responsible for Rin's death as far as he knew. "I've seen from my own eyes how Kiri will change in the future, I can't...let the past be in the way of people who want to change their village and know the wrong said village did before."

"Thank you Kakashi, thank you so much for getting it," I mumbled with tears at the corner of my eyes. I snorted to keep the snot in my nose and rubbed my eyes.

On this note, we all left in different directions.

Getting a place to transfer the civilians? Check.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :) Thanks to kankananime123 and nevvy for the reviews :) and be ready in the next few chapters to have a lot more information on the Death Reaper Seal to be given!**

 **Bye**


	38. Kiri Resistance Arc: Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 13**

 **Shisui: 22**

 **Kakashi: 27**

* * *

"Oh I remember them!" I cried out suddenly, Mangetsu raising his head from the seal he was desperately trying to draw. "Before! She became the guardian at the Hōzuki Castle!"

"The technique she used on you must have been what got her there." I nodded at my friend's conclusion and peeked at his work. It was the sloppiest I had ever witnessed, even Suigetsu could have done better.

"You know, it's reassuring when someone who has been certified as a genius at the age of three struggles to do something you've mastered. Thanks man, you made my day by sucking." I avoided the brush that flew into pieces when it met the wall. Well, Mangetsu's bedroom wall wasn't as white as it used to be anyway. "Anyway, do you happen to know how Karin's training is going? Suigetsu and Haku went there, didn't they?"

"They did yeah, it seems like she's kinda loving it, healing people with her knowledge and Dai pretty much wants to find a way to synthesize her ability. From what Haku told me, she might be planning on helping him." He started to snicker and I blinked with confusion when he was laughing loudly.

"I'm missing something ain't I?"

"Yeah, Suigetsu keeps complaining about her and how she keeps punching him when he talks. I thought I told him how you should be wary of Uzumaki women.

"Hilarious Mangetsu, really," I mumbled and glared at his smirk. At least, Karin seemed to slowly be finding her place. However, I needed to find a way to go to Uzushio, I needed to do more research, for my Shinigami seal and its improvements and simply just to see if I ouldn get more seals period. From all of the seals I knew, only the Pupil Seal was mine. The others? I learned them and made variations of them so that they worked with my chakra, but the seal in itself was others. "How is tracking down Raiga going?"

"Don't wanna talk about it," he muttered under his breath. He was supposed to go get the last sword but Raiga was nowhere to be found. I wondered if the two shinobi sensei placed near the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Rice in case Sasuke tried to leave Konoha would know anything. "By the way, I heard people saying there had been fights on Biu Island., some kind of cults from the Land of Hot Water or some shit like that." I frowned. A cult from there? Didn't Dad actually care about avoiding some people when we used to live there? "Uzu? You know something?"

"Maybe, I'm pretty sure my father didn't want to get in a fight with them or something like that."

"If your father didn't want something like that to happen maybe it's more serious than it looks."

When I was back at my place, I looked at the list I made about what I would be looking for in Uzushio. First, the relation between my seal and the jinchuriki, more about the side effects. Second, look for the improvement Saiken mentioned and see if I could do it to myself. Thirdly, try to find seals or stuff in general to help me with the back up seal and how I could get a sample of Isobu's chakra to test a potential new jinchuriki.

I hated just thinking about it.

Oh, and find out why I couldn't feel oji-chan in my seal since Konoha! Fuck, it was annoying when you didn't have a Seal Master/Hokage to help you out!

"It's a cult from the Land of Hot Waters," I told Yagura sternly with a frown on my face. "I don't know a lot about it, except they create a lot of destruction for that Jashin. Dad...I wouldn't say he was concerned as much about them as the war when we moved there, but he wasn't entirely comfortable with them nearby." It was Yagura's turn to frown.

"Uzumaki, you'll go investigate Biu Island and the Land of Hot Water." Hum...wasn't there a jashinist in the Akatsuki? Why would Obito want to know more?

I blinked when Yagura rubbed his head with a grimace of his face.

"What are you looking at?" he hissed at me and I jumped a little before leaving him. Maybe it was _Yagura_ who wanted me investigate.

In any case, Haku didn't look pleased to know I would be investigate a cult on my own. Looking on the bright side though, I could stop by Uzushio.

But Jashin? Really? Why would they even be on Biu Island anyway?

Even when I was on the island, covered by a dark travel cloak with the hood on because of the drizzle, the freezing drizzle even as October was hitting hard this year. Naruto was thirteen and Shisui twenty-two huh…

In any case, I couldn't find anything on the island. No jashinist, and the few people who talked to me didn't seem to know anything about it. It was weird, why would they come here and leave without getting anything from this place? Not as if there was much to take but...Man, why?

I ended up in the Land of Hot Water, basically running around like a headless chicken looking for anything, anything really about that damn cult. I would have gladly taken information about one's underwear color at that point, but they were way too good at hiding anything related to them. It was infuriating. However, as I was in the Land of Hot Water, I bought some of their water. Dai wasn't in the village anymore, we would need something to get us back on our feet and it would be useful at the hideout too. I bought a lot.

I was running along the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Hot Water toward Uzushio when a toad appeared in front of me.

"Uzumaki Akane?"

"Yeah?" The toad gave me a scroll and disappeared in a poof of smoke. I didn't waste time and opened it, my eyes reading the words quickly. "Dammit Sasuke..."

He defected last night. A team of five, consisting of Naruto, Shikamaru, Neji, Chouji and Kiba had been sent, because most jounin were dispatched through the country. This included Kakashi, Itachi, Shisui and even Fugaku-san and only God knew who else. Orochimaru really did choose the moment to…

Why would Sasuke even leave Konoha? What were the reasons behind this?

Why did the Uchihas have to be so fucking troublesome?

I cut my thumb open and summoned Seihitsu.

"Hello Akane."

"Hey, I need you to track down Sasuke. I don't have any of his belongings but I have an idea of where he is going. Tell me if you feel anything." I jumped on him and we were off toward the border with the Land of Rice, with Oto. Someone was gonna get slapped once I had him.

Boys were stupid.

All of them.

* * *

"What?"

"Itachi..." his mother tried to calm him down, but his blood kept boiling in his veins. What did the Hokage mean by 'Sasuke has defected'? Surely his little brother wouldn't have left the village like that. He had been taken or…

Who was he kidding? Sasuke had been acting strange, was more withdraw than ever. He saw it during their mission in the Land of Snow. He didn't say anything but it didn't mean he had not felt the glares his little brother would give him, or Naruto. He should have tried to talk to him, to get him to speak up but he had been so busy with the state of the village that…

"Where?"

"Orochimaru, but I've already dispatched a team Itachi, so don't you think to go on your own," Tsunade told him with stern and sharp eyes and he clenched his fists.

"Who? Every high-ranked shinobi are out."

"Four genin of his promotion, including Naruto, plus a chuunin." Itachi opened his eyes wide. What was the Hokage thinking? "Kakashi got back earlier than you, he's already after them with a team of medic. Even if they fail, I have everything under control." At this, his mother also looked at their Hokage. "I had a talk with Fugaku after Jiraya looked at Sasuke's mark." She frowned and glared at Itachi, seemingly having seen something she didn't like. "Listen to me brat, if everything goes as planned, your brother won't be a missing-nin but if you go on your own, without being ordered to, then you'll be classified as such, or at least you'll have to face repercussions. Brother or not, you're staying here until I tell you otherwise."

Itachi blinked, and even if his mind was screaming to go after his brother, he replied in a whisper, "Fine."

* * *

"You'll be okay?"

"Yeah..." Pukka said, rubbing a dark spot in her black hair. "The kid still had some carts up his sleeve."

"I can't believe we fell for a stupid genjutsu that made us attack each other," her partner, Gin, muttered, a thin drop of blood running down his nose. I looked at Sasuke, unconscious on the ground. Once Seihitsu told me he felt Kurama's chakra, he sped up, and right when I could connect with Sasuke's marker enough, I teleported to him and place an Immobility Seal and a Chakra Suppressing Seal plus my Pupil Seal on him.

"Thanks for blocking his way guys," I told them as I put Sasuke's limp body on my shoulder. Seihitsu landed behind me and I placed Sasuke on his back, climbing on him afterward. "Come back fast, this place is not safe."

"We'll patch ourselves up first, it shouldn't be long." I nodded at Pukka and looked down at my summon, who was moving his head around.

"You feel something?"

"I don't know, it's...strange, almost as if they were two..." he mumbled between his fangs and 'looked' around us. Were we being watched? "I don't like this."

"Let's go. See you later guys." Seihitsu started running. "Is Konoha around? Sas..."

"No..." My head snapped to Sasuke, who was weakly moving his lips. "Village...liars..." Wha…

"Akane?"

"Uzushio Seihitsu, I have a feeling giving Sasuke back right now wouldn't be good for him after all," I said in a low voice. What pushed him to leave? I looked at my wound on my thumb and put pressure on it to make it bleed again, and summoned Uma on Seihitsu. "Uma, go to Konoha. Get someone to reverse summon you to Mom and tell her to tell Tsunade-san I have the package and we'll take care of it." He nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke. I peeked over my shoulder. Sasuke was out cold once again. I would make him talk once we were in Uzushio. "By the way, did you feel anything else at the Valley?"

"Your cousin was still alive. Barely, but he was." Huh...Sasuke still tried to kill him.

Sasuke didn't wake up from the entire trip. It wasn't long, especially knowing I had left a marker there before so once we reached the shore, my summon went home and I used Hiraishin. The quiet beach and its orangey pink sunset were replaced by rubble of concrete and wild plants with a great sight on the old harbor, now completely immersed in water. I could see the remaining docks though.

I sighed heavily and made a fire when the night was starting to fall. Then, I walked up to Sasuke, for whom I made a pitiful pillow out of my flak jacket, and grabbed all of my paper seals from my pouch. Did I...No, I didn't have any diagnosis seal, just healing seals for external injuries and chakra pills. And my water!

I unsealed a cup and some water. Then, I shook Sasuke pretty harshly. He groaned in pain and choked on the water when I poured it in his mouth. He coughed and sat up abruptly so I slapped him on the back.

"Where..." he started sleepily and looked around him. When his eyes found mine, he blinked and rubbed his eyes. "Nee-san? Wha..."

"Even with me being in a different village I have to get you out of troubles. Seriously, it's annoying. You're lucky I was on a mission around."

"Where are we?"

"The Land of Eddie, in the ruins of Uzushio. Care to tell me now why you were willingly going to that snake?" He averted his eyes from me and grasped his shorts, the shadows the flames were casting on his face giving him an even darker look. "You don't wanna talk to me now?"

"So that you pretend you care when you don't?" he spat at me and I gave him a cold look. That was new. "So that you can lie to me like everyone I know?" His onyx eyes glared at me. I crossed my arms on my chest. "Did you know too? Was I the only one in the dark!?"

"What are you…"

"The coup!" he roared at me, his fists shaking in anger. "I'm talking about the coup the Uchihas wanted to throw against Konoha five years ago that was stopped the night we were kidnapped! Did. You. Know?" I was taken back. How...how did he know that? "Is it true nii-san was spying on the clan for the village!? That he would have killed us all if he had been ordered to in order to keep the coup from happening!?" I sighed slightly, my eyes growing soft. The picture he's had of Itachi was broken now. Was it good though? Would he be able to see his brother as the imperfect human being he was from now on?

"I...don't know about Itachi," I started in a hoarse voice, because I knew, I knew what Itachi would have done and how he would have broken Sasuke almost to the point of no return. "But yes, there was a coup in preparation." I saw something snapping in his eyes, almost like the last string linking his family to his village.

"Why?" he asked me in a whisper. "Why did they hate us so much? Why didn't they tell me?"

"Because you were eight and they wanted you to keep your childhood innocence for a little bit longer. Once you have a taste of how the shinobi world really works you cannot go back. It's not just getting strong to protect the weak and beat up bad guys. It's the political system that rules that continent, it's protecting your people and knowing who they are."

"The Uchihas are a part of the village, why would they...why..."

"Ignorant people will hate Sasuke, and then you reach a point where you snap and hate back. It's a never ending circle." I raised a brow at his shining eyes. He was trying not to cry. It fully hit me now that he had not lost his family. He had not and just realized how dirty and mean this world was. He didn't see his brother kill his parents and wasn't aiming at killing him. He was...he was just a kid who was trying to leave his brother's shadow.

It fully hit me Sasuke was only thirteen, with no traumas, and I felt so old. I would never really stop taking care of Uchiha kids would I?

"What happened for you to leave Sasuke?" He snorted loudly and turned his head away, probably to wipe his nose and his tears.

"I..." he started, looking back at me, "I was having a late training when some guys from the Sound showed up and said I should go with them if I wanted to live because of the mark. I was angry because of my fight with Naruto..."

"Fight with Naruto?" I interrupted him with my hand raised in front of me. "Why were you fighting? It was a good reason or something petty like jealousy?" He glared at the ground.

"Kakashi trapped me in ninja wires and talked to me to keep me in the village. It worked and I was going to the Hokage to tell her, maybe they could use me as a bet to get Orochimaru." Huh...good thinking. "But I stopped behind her door when I heard my father and her talking and...they mentioned the coup. I left after that. I...couldn't stay in a village with so much lies and...I..." He looked at his hands with wide eyes. Eyes wide with confusion and questions.

"You don't know why you're fighting anymore, or more like for who." He gulped loudly, his stare not able to keep up with my stern one. "You felt betrayed, like you should in a situation like that, but instead of handling it like a shinobi would have, by seeing the pros and cons, by getting all of the facts right, you let it get it to you. You let your emotions be a hindrance to your judgment and chose to be a brat. You ran away to a missing-nin who just killed the Third Hokage Sasuke. If you had succeeded, you would have been a missing-nin. You can be angry at them, it's normal, you can hate them for what could have been for all I care, but you wouldn't have been able to turn back. Your family lied to you? Yeah, they did. It doesn't mean they don't love you and are worrying about you. Your village lied too? Well, your team are probably feeling guilty about not seeing anything weird in you behavior and not being able to help you like a team should have. In your anger, have you realized everything you would have lost for someone who would have given you power for...for what? What would you have done then? Orochimaru wants a body, that's why you have that mark. You're thirteen, you're still a brat and I get it. But you're a shinobi, even if you're a genin, you're not considered as a kid anymore and you're not supposed to act like one." I didn't stop staring at him the whole time and now that I was slowly catching my breath, I felt satisfaction when the harsh consequences of his actions could have been finally fully hit him. He opened and closed his mouth as if he was desperately trying to say something.

"I'm sorry..."

"I'm not the one you should apologize to. Although, I'm not the one who should be lecturing you either. Well, nothing ever goes as planned. By the way, you're gonna have time to think about what you've done because you're not going to Konoha anytime soon."

"Wha..."

"You're staying with me. With how messy your mind is right now, going back to Konoha wouldn't help you either."

"You can't possibly be thinking about taking me to Kiri, right?" I laughed and smirked at him.

"Close. I'm not letting you becoming Yagura's target." He raised a brow. "Karatachi Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage. Fuck, do you learn anything about foreign countries at the Academy? You don't even learn tree and water walking!"

"Because you do?"

"Yeah, Kiri and Konoha programs are a lot different, even your genin days are different. I have to ask you something Sasuke." He looked unsure of whether or not he wanted to answer and I finally realized it was...well, it wasn't the first time I was scolding him but it was the first time I was lecturing him by giving straight up facts on how bad things could have been. From how he could barely handle my stare, it meant I still had authority on him, and with him in that state, I might even be the last one too because I was from another village. Because he knew Kiri had been plagued by civil wars whereas Konoha had avoided one and he ran away. "Why are you a shinobi?"

"To prove my father I can be as strong as It..." He stopped when I rolled my eyes.

"That's why Naruto's progresses are faster than yours Sasuke. Being a shinobi is your career Sasuke, you can't base the reason behind it on people. They're not eternal, they might die one day, and then what? What will your goal be?" I was being harsh on purpose, because this Sasuke had not lost anyone yet. "Sasuke, who are you? Forget you're an Uchiha, forget you're a shinobi of the Leaf for a minute. For the time you'll stay with me, I want you to think about it. Who is Sasuke? Why is he doing what he's doing? Why can't he get stronger as fast as Naruto? What is he fighting for?"

* * *

Shisui was at a loss when he entered the hospital room where Itachi was supposed to be in. The younger Uchiha was, looking through the window whereas Naruto was bandaged almost everywhere, his blue eyes staring at the sheet on his laps. Kakashi had told him about Sasuke when he barely had a foot in the village, but he did not think Naruto would be that hurt, especially with his healing being faster than average.

"Nii-chan!" the blond child told him with a forced smile. Shisui felt like he had to return it, although his was smaller. "You're back already?"

"Yeah, I was told about the situation and a squad of chuunin swapped with us at the border. How you're doing?" The question was as much for Naruto as for Itachi, even if the latter just turned to face them, his legs crossed and his hands in his pockets in fake nonchalance.

"I'm good, Sasuke...Sasuke didn't go as strongly on me as everyone say."

"He pierced his chest with a chidori, that's all," Itachi added, eyeing Naruto coldly. "Naruto, don't protect him. Sasuke will have to take responsibility for his behavior."

"Orochimaru was, is manipulating him! I promised Sakura-chan I'd bring him back and I will!"

"Because the first try was such a success," the heir spat. Silence engulfed the room, Naruto glaring at Itachi. The latter sighed in frustration and left the room without another word.

"You won't be alone Naruto, don't be reckless though," Shisui told him and stormed off after his best friend. He found him quickly, sat against the wall. "Hey man."

"I should have talked to him when I spotted the first signs," Itachi whispered, his head between his hands. "They fought on the roof of that building too you know. Kakashi-san stopped them and even talked to Sasuke before he left, but he still did and I don't know why. There's something else than just me."

"Isn't that kind of self-centered coming from you?" From his glare, Itachi did not like that he was trying to joke around. "Okay, sorry, but I think the same. If he attacked Naruto before, he might also be jealous of Naruto's progresses and isn't satisfied with his own."

"There's still something else, Sasuke wouldn't have left just because of his jealousy, it's..." Itachi stopped himself in the middle of his sentence and frowned. "Maybe he learned about the coup Shisui."

"How would he know about it? There's a rule about not mentioning in front of him."

"I don't know but...but it would explain it. If Sasuke knew the clan and the village almost had war between them, he would be too confused and betrayed to stay here. He's too immature and too hot headed, he would have acted in the heat of the moment." In any case he hoped Sasuke was okay and would realize his mistake before it was too late.

* * *

"I won't dispel the seals, stop asking." I beautifully ignored Sasuke's glare. I wasn't going to let myself giving into his tantrum. I put the last item back in my scroll and got up. "Follow me, I have some research to do, you're gonna help."

"If I don't want to help?" Oh, he dared being haughty with me?

"I'll freeze you to the bone, water wins over fire, too bad you're surrounded by it and unable to fight back." His face lost a shade. "Enjoy the trip in Uzushio, not a lot of people have access to it, especially Uchihas." He frowned.

"Why?"

"Because Uzumakis are distant relative of the Senju clan, and Uchihas and Senjus weren't the best of friends in the Warring States Period." I created three clones who left in various direction, leaving me and Sasuke going for the main house of the Uzumaki clan. It was silent for long minutes, until we reached the broken and moldy wooden gates.

"How is it, Kiri?" Sasuke ended up asking me.

"What do you mean?"

"You said last night genin were different."

"Ah. Well, if you put a freshly graduate from each Academy, Konoha will lose. You focus a lot on the theory. Kiri is not like that, we learn tree and water walking in last year, just like the base of kenjutsu. Even your graduation exams are...soft when you think of the real nature of your job. And when we're genin, we're not put in teams like in Konoha. Kiri favors missions and their success, we're sent on solo missions and we're put into squad with a jounin when we're considered for the chuunin exams so that we can take it. We're taught how to do a mission in any circumstances." Sasuke stared in front of him.

"What's the exam?"

"Sasuke..." I sighed and rubbed my temple, my feet getting wet because of the thin layer of water on the ground. "You're aware of the old graduation exam? The one Zabuza-san took without being in the Academy?" He nodded. "Well, it changed after, but it's still...real. You were put under a jounin commandment right after the Academy, so Kakashi could slowly make you understand how cruel and violent a shinobi is. We're murderers in the end. Students in the Academy in Kiri learn with that thought in mind. We don't really have a lot of written exams, we usually have a survival exam. After that, we fight a chuunin, to see our fighting skills and adaptation abilities in front of an opponent stronger than ourselves. Finally, we kill a prisoner, to see who can handle it and so that we don't have bad reactions in missions. There are still death, it's still cruel and brutal, but it's effective in a way. We're confronted to the shinobi life before being sent into the world and...Sasuke?"

"You had to do that too..." he whispered with glassy eyes. It was very different from what he knew.

"Partially, I didn't take the survival exam, Yagura made me take one two months after I got in Kiri. But what's done is done, it's useless to cry about it." Education, I knew Zabuza-san took the Academy program at heart, we'd need to reform the Academy. "I didn't go to the Academy anyway, except for my exam. I was 'home schooled'."

I made another clone who went in the main house and I looked around for a temple. The Uchiha had one, old Sasuke told me so, so the Uzumakis...Ah, there, behind a crumbling house was a roofless temple with whirlpool on the dark walls.

"What are we looking for?" Sasuke asked me when I started to look around the temple for some kind of hidden button.

"Secret room for stuff." Huh...old seal behind a torch? Found.

It was a lock...and blood, it required identification. I made my thumb bleed, for the third time in two days, and pressed it in the center of the seal. I pulled it away and watched as black ink went to the drop of blood and swallowed it, a slab at the entry moving away to reveal an old staircase. Sasuke looked inside of it.

"We need light," he stated plainly. I raised a brow.

"You're going to help without whining?" I was pretty sure his cheeks had a pinky tint to it. Hum...Sasuke didn't want to go to Orochimaru in particular, I was pretty sure he just needed to leave Konoha. He...was calmer than yesterday. He was still broody and upset, but my lecture seemed to have had some effects.

"Give me the torch," he muttered and I snickered, grabbing the old torch from the wall. He used a small Fire jutsu on it and I stretched out my arm. "It's deep."

"Yep, stay close to me." We started going down, the chilly air hitting me through my waterproof long sleeved shirt, as Sasuke had my flak jacket on him because of his destroyed shirt.

The steps were made of rock, but were not equals, some wider than others. The ceiling was also unequal, and I bumped my forehead against the wood of it at first. We finally reached the basement with me rubbing my forehead and muttering curses against the idiots who built that place.

"What's that?" I blinked at Sasuke with confusion, and followed his eyes. I froze, all of my hairs on end when I recognized the Shinigami on the door. Its eyes...were as terrifying as I remembered them to be. I carefully approached the closed door. There was...a circle in the middle. Another seal, what a surprise. However, that one was spread on the entire door. I read the symbols carefully.

Chakra.

Yurei.

How convenient. I gathered chakra on my hand and placed it in the middle of the seal. The symbols glowed purple and retreated to the locking seal.

Now the door was opened. I moved the torch around, but it was still too dark to see anything. I put a foot in the room, and I must have touched something because torches on the wall lighted by themselves out of nowhere. I put my own torch against the wall.

I looked around, not saying anything when I felt Sasuke stopping next to me. I was too busy gaping.

"Is that room one big seal?"

Indeed, black symbols were written all around us, with a giant seal in the middle. The same one I had on my stomach, except there was a sort of caricature of the Shinigami, a candle at the extremity of each of its horns and one at its shin.

I closed my mouth and took slow steps toward the wall in front of us, carefully walking around the Shinigami's face on the floor. Sasuke followed me closely.

"What is this place nee-san?" he whispered quickly, his eyes roaming around the room.

"The proof of the Uzumaki clan's insanity." My seal was warming up. It wasn't burning, but it was clearly reacting to the atmosphere of the place.

There was a closed scroll on an altar made of light gray stone. In a neat calligraphy, there was written 'Shinigami Claw'. It wasn't even faded by time, the ink was still a deep black. I grabbed it and gulped before opening it. The handwriting was small and still neat, but I noticed it was old. I could feel it at the quality of the paper, at some corners of the paper that had been yellowed by time. But I could read everything. I could understand every single words as if they had been written just yesterday. Someone had obviously made sure this scroll would always be readable.

The Shinigami Claw then. A seal given through a ceremony to increase your connection to the Shinigami, to let you become a real vassal in a way. The entire ceremony was described in the scroll, and the seals around the room were the stage. Any Yurei could have it, a seal that would be placed on my left hand and forearm, my 'claw'. With this, I would have the hand of Death itself and would be able to go through a lot of things, including a jinchuriki's seal, to reach the bijuu. It was exactly what Saiken talked about. I would also be able to steal other's souls and seal them, not in my own seal but in the Shinigami's stomach. The souls already in me would be locked in, and depending on the number of souls I'd give the Shinigami and their quality, I'd...be able to temporary summon the souls in me, depending if I could have a connection with them. I would also be able to exchange my own soul and life, forever condemning me to the Shinigami, for someone else's and bring them back if they had just passed and had a strong chakra…

Like...the Sage's descendants? Let's say Itachi died in front of me, I'd be able to trade my soul for his and he'd be healed enough to be out of mortal danger?

The Shinigami was the God of Death after all, so having a contract with him...it would give you, give me a lot more power than a human being should ever have access to. Nobody should have so much power. I had never been the kind of person interested in having that much power either, I just wanted enough of it to survive.

But I needed to reach Yagura, the real Yagura.

My eyes scanned the rest of the document. This time around, the side and bad effects were there. I would never be able to have a successful pregnancy should I ever be pregnant. Huh, simply having my seal reduced the chances by fifty percent anyway. If I were to break my seal by giving the Shinigami somebody's soul to replace mine, I...oh…

I would say goodbye to my past life. I would know I had a past life, but I wouldn't remember it properly speaking. I would know I had children with Itachi for instance, but not remember them or my relationship with their father, and therefore I wouldn't have any kind of emotional attachment to them.

Other than this, it was written my 'watching soul' would be able to speak to me if I was on the verge of dying. I didn't know what that thing was, but I understood the next sentence.

'Those who bear the hand of Death shall know Death itself, and prove themselves worthy of being its representative.'

There was a test then, if not several.

"Nee-san?" I heard Sasuke call me, but I ignored him. Could I? Could I do it? There were advantages, I literally would have the power to destroy the Edo Tensei very easily. I would be able to do so much. I'd be able to give my life for somebody else.

Did I want the side effects though? I didn't care about sterility, been there and done the whole maternity thing already, but did I want to do something that would cut me off from my past life entirely if I wanted to break the seal?

Would I even survive the tests?

I spotted a seal at the end of the explanation and used it. Another scroll appeared in my hand. I opened it and froze.

It was a list of all the Yurei, and underlined were the names of those who had the Shinigami Claw. There were five. The last name was faded, but it was mine.

It was fucked up. This situation, that seal, that kinjutsu, it was an entire another dimension of fucked up. Nobody should have ever messed up with Death, because when you're dead, you're supposed to stay dead. Nobody should be sent back because of regrets, and nobody should summon dead people and control them.

My hands clenched around the scrolls tightly.

I had to. I had to to do this, didn't I?

I had to. Once my thumb was bleeding once again, I traced the shadow of my name on the paper.

"What..." I turned my head to the stunned Sasuke next to me, and realized the candles were burning strongly.

It was my definite answer then. I'd already lived once.

The fear in the pit of my stomach had no right to be here.

"Sasuke." He looked up at me with uncertainty in his eyes. "What's going to happen in here will forever stay between you and I. Nobody else can know what's about to happen."

"What..." he repeated but I ignored him, once again. I took off my shirt, leaving me in my sports bra and threw it at him. I didn't even smirk at his reddened cheeks. Instead, I sat in the middle of the Shinigami face. I drew the seal from the instructions on the palm of my left hand with my blood and applied it to the seal on my stomach.

I felt like a lock was being opened.

I heard Sasuke screaming my name as I passed out.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :) Thanks to kankananime123 and Ederisu for the reviews :). I hope I was clear in the explanation of the seal though!**

 **Bye!**


	39. Kiri Resistance Arc: Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 13**

 **Shisui: 22**

 **Kakashi: 27**

* * *

"Welcome dear descendant of mine!" a man welcomed me in a cheery voice. I opened my eyes like saucers and pointed an accusing finger at him, who blinked innocently.

"You're the guy from the roof! With the Shinigami!" He laughed.

"Oh that, yeah! You understood I was congratulating you for snapping out of your episodes, right?" I frowned. That's what it was? "You're not the first Yurei to have a mental breakdown because someone else used the Death Reaper Seal. Your breakdown happened in the average five following years though and you pulled through, congrats!"

"Who are you?" He pointed at himself with his finger.

"Me? You mean you don't know?"

"I don't know if you're aware, but the Uzumaki clan is not really a thing anymore and most of their techniques and secrets have been destroyed. It's a miracle I managed to find something about my condition in Uzumaki Mito's stuff. It's a miracle the room I am in is still there period!"

"Right, it was destroyed because we were too good...I've never thought my technique would end up creating such a dangerous reputation for the family..." I gaped. What...did that mean that that man was… "Yeah, I'm the one you've been calling 'the Summoner' for years Akane. Ōtsutsuki Tensui, at your service. I'm Ashura's grandson, my uncle's son is the real and true founder of the Senju clan and found the name and all, I did the same for the Uzumakis."

"You're the founder of the Uzumaki clan," I repeated in a whisper. "What the fuck is going on then? How are you here!? I've read you've broken your seal with the Shinigami before you died!"

"And we're still like this!" he added with a goofy grin, crossing two of his fingers. "When my great-great-grandson decided to improve that technique and invented the 'Shinigami Claw', Shishi brought me back to welcome those brave and crazy enough to try to become its hand. You know you have twenty-five percent of chances to get out of here alive, right? There's only a fifty percent chance to become a Yurei after all." Shishi, he actually called the God of Death 'Shishi'. "Anyway, you've guessed it, you'll have to pass some tests. As you're a candidate to become one of its buddies down there, you need to know how death feels like, and how it is to..."

"I've already died once, and relived it once," I reminded him with narrowed eyes. He pouted.

"Crap, the little blood of the Yuki clan you have really cooled down your Uzumaki temper. What a shame." I glared and he raised his hands in front of him. "Alright Akane, alright! As you so nicely pointed out, you've already relived your death, so you won't have to relive it now. But...you'll relive the other Yureis who had the Claw."

"And a lot of people failed to get the Claw because..."

"I don't know, because dying over and over again, feeling your soul being ripped out of your corporeal envelop and witnessing people's regrets and death is a lot to take in at once and a lot of our family just gave up and let their soul being consumed by their predecessors' chakra and regrets and negative emotions? I mean, dying is not something you wanna do everyday for fun, right?"

"Yeah...yeah that...that makes sense," I muttered under my breath. It was logical, yet it didn't cross my mind.

"So, shall we start then?"

"How can you not be disturbed by all this?" I asked him in a hollow voice. Tensui lost his grin and his honey-colored eyes went from joyful to sharp.

"Because the Uzumakis changed the entire reason for that jutsu. They got so obsessed about fuinjutsu and how they could read it so easily that they ended up caring mostly about being the best. They were a hot-headed bunch who didn't hide their talent. It's sad, but it was their own boastfulness that caused their destruction. As you know, the Uchihas almost had the same destiny. If the Uzumakis had gone to Konoha instead of creating a village of their own, maybe they would still be here today. They were an insane crazy bunch and I stopped caring about Yurei who would come and try to get the claw when their reason to be Yureis was getting more powerful." A small smile graced his features. "I was glad to know the Death Reaper Seal was lost, yet here we are. But you didn't even know about the real utility of that seal, so I know you're not using it to be more powerful only for the clan."

"If I understand you well Tensui-san, the five Yureis who got the Claw were pure Yureis and not just Uzumakis thirsty for power?"

"Yep. The Uchihas and their Curse of Hatred isn't as terrible as it sounds now, is it?" I nodded slowly. "We're a lot more alike than you imagine, but when you met past Sasuke, you must have seen how you were like him in your mind, right? Except...less extremist and more numb to the world around you." Huh, he got that right.

"I have more chances to succeed the tests then?" He raised his brows up to his hairline.

"Everything depends on how much you can handle my dear. Let's see about that, shall we?"

"Wait, one more thing!"

"Heh? I've told you everything important!"

"No!" I replied in an outburst, and his puzzled face made me clench my fists. "What's a 'watching soul'?" He pursed his lips. "I told you most of the Uzumakis' secrets were destroyed."

"I know, I forgot you don't remember seeing him during your coma," he mumbled. "Well huh...shit, death plans and the afterlife stuff is complicated man!"

"Make it clear then!"

"So bossy..." He cleared his throat. "Well, if you're here, you know it's because you had immense remorse and regrets when you died." I nodded. "Okay, well huh...haha, that's very funny actually, Shishi didn't mention it when I made a pact with him, that sneaky bastard."

"Just spit it out already!"

"Basically, when you died and promised your soul to Shishi, he sent you back at a precise time, to change a particular thing. The other people concerned in the change you made, the one you 'saved'...well, you promised Shishi their soul too." I blinked and felt a pang at my heart. Wha...What!?

"So what...old Shisui has been watching everything I've changed so far on his little cloud?" I hissed in anger. He put his hands in front of him as if to protect himself. "If I don't break my seal his soul will be in eternal turmoil!?"

"That's what you would think too! I was totally ready to take him when you died, he looked so guilty and touched but mainly guilty..."

"People watched me die!?"

"What do you think dead people do on the other side? We really do watch over our loved ones! And let me tell you, you lost a lot of people and a lot of people were crying over you and how you wouldn't join them. Anyway, I was about to take Shisui you know, and he was totally ready to accept his role because he felt...like he owned it to you."

"But?"

"But that guy just held him back and basically ordered me to take him instead!" I was speechless and my mouth was dry. If...if this was going to where I think this was going… "He told his parents and Shisui to look over the twins in his place while he'd be looking after you." That...no… "Please don't cry, I hate it when one of the Yurei is a part of a tragic love story."

"That fucking idiot..." I whispered with watery eyes, but with a small smile on my face. "Wait, it means Itachi might end up with eternal damnation because of me?"

"Yep!"

"That fucking idiot!" I repeated with fury. When he was alive he had no problem leaving me behind to get killed by Sasuke, but when he's dead and I used a clan kinjutsu, suddenly he's here because he wanted to look after me!? "How does it even work!?"

"Hey, once you're dead you're dead! We all end up at the same place in the end, let's just say than your original timeline and the timeline you've changed are forever linked now! For all I know, everybody might end up with the memories from the two timelines once they're dead!"

"Like me when I 'woke up'," I summed up. "Okay, now I'm more determined than ever to pass those tests."

"Finally!" he sighed, his shoulders relaxing. "I'm old, too old to explain things for so long."

The endless white scenery around us changed, and Tensui-san vanished. I found myself screaming in anguish in a man's voice as a boy, no older than seven, was mercilessly stabbed in the heart, his small voice asking for his father.

What a great start.

* * *

"I beg your pardon Tsunade-sama?" Kakashi said, completely emotionless. "Sasuke is with Akane right now?"

"It's what Akiko told me. I personally asked Terumi to offer Sasuke shelter if he were to leave Konoha because of the mark," Tsunade explained, standing in front of the window, her arms crossed behind her back. "I'm pretty sure it's something that happened here that pushed him to leave to Orochimaru. Bringing him back against his will could have worst consequences and Orochimaru would have more influence on him."

"Don't you think his family could have handle it?"

"Kakashi, don't you think his family could have something to do with him leaving? Orochimaru's mark brings back every single negative emotions he felt in the past and makes the ones he feels now stronger than they should be." Kakashi opened his mouth but an anbu appeared next to him. He recognized Tenzo's cat mask easily.

"Tsunade-sama, we went on patrol near the border as you've asked us. However, we found evidences of two Kiri shinobi being killed."

"Culprit?"

"Human, probably some of Orochimaru's men. Our sensor felt someone strong going toward the east coast." The Hokage sighed tiredly and sat in her chair.

"I'll contact the Resistance, did you bring back the bodies?"

"My apologies, but there was not a lot to bring back. They were half eaten."

"I see. Kakashi, take three other shinobi with you, chuunin level minimum, including one sensor. If it's Orochimaru, I don't like him going to the east."

"Because of Uzushio?" Tsunade nodded grimly.

* * *

Don't close your eyes.

Even if it felt like my chakra was nowhere to be seen, I couldn't, because I knew I wouldn't wake up if I closed my eyes. I could feel the Shinigami's presence everywhere around, just waiting for me to give up. I let a painful breath out when the fourth scene was over.

I quickly realized that time and space had no place here. I had glimpses of what History could have been, and none of them had been pretty so far.

I was then in another body, probably the last Yurei with the Claw.

"Mito." My eyes were wide with surprise. Mito? The First Hokage's wife?

"Will it ever end?"

"What…"

"Izuna and Madara will execute Hashirama tomorrow." Heh…Izuna? Who was Izuna? An Uchiha?

I witnessed her conversation with Mito, how she decided to get rid of Madara, and Izuna his little brother, because the Uchiha had won the war against the Senju. Because there was no Konoha, just the Uchihas ruling over the land.

It was a disturbing sight to say the least. Not because it was misery everywhere, it was pretty the opposite actually, just...there wasn't really place for opposition or Senju sympathy.

I winced with her when she was stabbed by guards. I cursed with her when she got hold of the Uchiha siblings' souls with the help of the rest of the Senjus and Uzumakis, some Hyuugas and what I recognized as the Ino-Shika-Cho of the time. Actually, most of Konoha's clans were there.

I cried with her when Izuna had that heartbroken look in his eyes, when he said that even though she was on the Uchihas' good side, she would still choose the Senjus, she would still pick Tobirama in the end. I felt her turmoil, her sadness at killing him yet her will to change things, her self inflected punishment for taking their lives by going down with them.

Tears were freely pouring out of my eyes.

"I'm sorry Umiko, I'm sorry," Mito sobbed at her friend's side. She moaned in pain, I could feel the numbness crawling up my body, my soul leaving my body.

"I wish I could have done something to keep you from this fate," Hashirama, hurt and broken, murmured behind Mito. "But thank you."

"I'll...I'll keep Tobi alive..."

And it was over. My eyes were still opened. Barely, but still opened.

I couldn't feel my limbs anymore, yet I could feel every single of my muscles as if they were more prominent than before. I could feel the physical pain of each of their death, I could still feel life slowly leaving me. I could still feel their feelings, so strong, so familiar, yet so foreign because they were not mine.

I felt everything as my own, but it was not.

I was exhausted, physically and emotionally.

I wanted to stop and sleep.

But I couldn't. I couldn't let the Shinigami get me now. They were behind, a cold presence that would cool me down because of how hot I was now. It would be so easy to let go, to let them touch me just slightly.

It was over.

Why was I still there, in nowhere? Why was I feeling as if something was trying to get out of my body? It was burning, like when Kurama was acting up, like when Sandaime used the jutsu.

Why…

My mind was getting foggy. I…

Where was I again? What was I doing here? Why was it so hot?

Wait, who was I? Someone called me Umiko not long ago, who…

"And now you have to remember who you are," a male voice said next to me. "Don't let their feelings and lives make you forget your own feelings and lives. Don't get lost in the past Yureis, don't lose yourself."

Right...the tests…

But I was sleepy, and hot, and confused. Nothing made sense anymore in my head. Umiko...was I Umiko?

No, I wasn't, my son got stabbed in front of me though.

Or...maybe not.

It was suffocating that heat, yet there was a wave of coldness trying to cool me down. I should let it.

Yeah I should.

So I did.

* * *

She was insane.

Sasuke always knew Akane had that weird ability to know random things, to read him and understand him very easily, hence why he would turn to her first when he needed to talk when he was younger. She did not judge.

He was glad she got to him before he got to Orochimaru. It was stupid to try to go to a missing-nin who just attacked the village and he knew he reacted way too hastily.

But she was insane.

Actually, Uzumakis were, but she seemed to be on a whole another level of insanity.

He saw it when she was in the hospital, he saw how his brother and Shisui seemed sincerely concerned over her mental health. She seemed normal when he woke up in Uzushio though.

Until they reached that room. It was gloomy, it was dark and Sasuke shivered. It was for a ritual, a dark one, that was for sure.

She had not moved for an hour. Not at all, and he had to focus to see her breathing. He wished he could use his sharingan to check her state, but he couldn't because she had sealed it, like his chakra.

If she died, her seals would disappear, but he wouldn't know what to do then.

Sasuke really did not want to go back to Konoha.

Akane really had to wake up, or he'd find a way to bring her back and make her pay for leaving him alone.

The genin started to his feet when he noticed Akane's left arm twitching, barely at first, but violently after a couple of seconds. The skin of her arm was being deformed, bumps coming and leaving as if something was trying to get out. Sasuke narrowed his eyes. There was a sort of purple light glowing under her skin, and even if he was not a sensor, he could feel shivers running up and down his body.

There was an extremely dark and murderous chakra in the air. It was stronger than Orochimaru's, yet different. Orochimaru had been violent and bloodthirsty.

This, this was different. It was making him want to give up, to give up his will on living, because he would end up dead anyway. It was slowly convincing him life was too futile to be worth living it, and when that thought crossed his mind, he slapped himself.

No matter what Akane had started, it was strong, powerful, but Sasuke noticed it and wouldn't let it get to him.

He sprinted to the young woman and knelt next to her. He was sure he would hear the bones in her arms break soon enough, and he averted his eyes from her hand when her fingers started moving fast, sometimes at some painful angles.

The purple light under her skin seemed to dull a little and he frowned. It was most likely what was causing the weird things in her arm. It wanted to get out yet it couldn't.

Why?

Sasuke opened his eyes wide. She had a kekkai genkai, she told him so years ago, and it was what put her in a coma in Konoha! Because she couldn't control it! Could it be...it was trying to protect her from the purple glow but it was actually making it worse?

He grabbed a kunai from the holster on her thigh and pursed his lips. Raising his hands, firmly grasping the kunai, he mentally told himself it was to help her and stabbed her arm. His knuckles turned white when he tightened his hold on the weapon, now in the tender flesh of her arm, and Sasuke started dragging the blade along the light, blood pouring on the floor and his fingertips.

It was to help her.

That was funny, how slicing her arm open to help her was giving him more remorse than almost killing Naruto.

Sasuke started when Akane gasped for air loudly, the purple light coming out of the wound to cover her forearm. The light started to form symbols, fuin symbols he had never seen in his life, and seemed like it burned them deep in the skin. The smell of burned flesh filled the room. The flames of the candles burned brighter for a second before they died.

"Akane?" Sasuke called her when she calmly opened her eyes and sat up.

She stared at nothing for a minute and then looked at her bleeding arm. Mechanically, she pulled gauze out of her back pouch to absentmindedly warp it around the wound.

"We've got to go," she stated in a hoarse voice. She got up and put her shirt back on, never once glancing at him. Only at her arm. "I have to see Utakata."

"Who?"

"We're going to the HQ."

They left, the door locking itself behind them.

Akane had always been a little bit insane. However, her insanity had a comforting feeling to it because it made her look fearless.

Sasuke knew by the troubled look in her eyes, as if she was reliving something, that no matter what happened was bad. In a corner of his mind, he prayed she did not go back to having an episode like in the hospital.

* * *

I put a hand on the wall outside and took a deep breath. I wasn't fully myself, the different deaths still playing in my head. Sasuke noticed it, I was perfectly aware of it, but I couldn't care about it right now. My Ice Release almost killed me, again, by trying to protect me from the Shinigami's chakra. If it wasn't for Sasuke...I would have died.

Again.

Plus, Tensui-san asked me something.

Destroy the masks in the temple near Konoha, nobody but a Yurei should have power over the Shinigami.

I frowned when I got the memories of two of my clones. Stabbed in the back by…

"Sasuke, do you happen to know a guy with gray hair and glasses?"

"Kabuto," he responded without the shadow of a doubt. "He's with Orochimaru."

"He's not far too, he just popped one of my clone. He might be trying to get you. We need to leave, _now_." I wasn't in the best shape for a fight. My body was sore and I was exhausted.

We didn't run far when another clone was popped, and that that Kabuto guy was behind us. I didn't have enough strength to focus and put explosive seals on the ground when we were running, so I grabbed Sasuke by the back of my flak jacket and pushed him around the corner of a still standing building. I spun around, ready to attack, but the guy was faster than I thought he'd be and he had my throat in his hand. For someone who could use Hiraishin, I was pretty slow.

"Sasuke-kun, you shouldn't make Orochimaru-sama wait like that." Right, concentrate on destabilizing Sasuke so that I can make an explosive seal on your arm. However, I barely had the time to use my chakra that he felt it, punched me in the face and threw me in the wall.

I wanted to throw up so badly. Why, every single there was an actual important battle, did I have to be weakened so much by the Shinigami?

I averted my eyes to Sasuke, who was glaring at Kabuto, his hands clenched in shaking fists.

Right, I could...try to do that.

I executed some seals and teleported behind Sasuke. I grabbed him, focused, and teleported to my last clone, who was a moving marker herself.

"Wha..." I dropped on my knees at Sasuke's interrogation, and raised a brow at Uma near my clone. How my clones stayed even with me having that weird ritual was a mystery, but a good one.

"Uma, go home," my clone ordered the little wolf, who nodded and left in a hurry. "Sasuke, come here." He did and she deactivated the seals on him. He closed and opened his hands, checking if he really had his power back probably.

Then, at my pleasant surprise, he pulled me on my feet and supported me as much as he could.

"Is there a secret exit somewhere? If the Uzumaki clan was specialized in seals and you can teleport, then there should be." Oh, he almost sounded like his brother. Sure of himself and of what he should do as the one who could move and fight.

"You're not going to Orochimaru?" my clone asked him and he frowned.

"I wasn't that interested."

"Huh, he was just there right at the right time that snake."

"The..." I rasped quietly. "The Eien Hansen is...active."

"The what?" the Uchiha asked but he didn't get an answer. My clone nodded and ran away, to that Kabuto, and we were left in the rest of the academy, against an empty crumbling bookshelf.

"Just...just follow. Do as I say."

"You've got a lot of explaining to do," he muttered under his breath,

To be fair, I didn't have a clue on how we got to the door. Our surroundings were all the same after all, ruins covered by weed and water under our feet. We ended up behind the Kage building, where the symbol of a whirlpool was still present on the wall. It was faded and what looked like dry blood was on it still.

The door, that place in general brought back many memories. The four caves around us, with three of them having their mechanisms and weapon broken beyond repair, but this particular one was still working. There was indeed Jiraya-sans seal on the door.

I took a kunai and sliced my right hand, placing it in the 'lock' of the door. As expected, Jiraya-san's seal, no matter how good it was, didn't break but the door still opened because Uzumaki blood surpassed his seal.

Well, he didn't put that seal to stop an Uzumaki but other people.

It was an impressive piece of work. Minato didn't learn from anybody after all. That his seal was still here and would still be working once we were in…

"Sasuke, your hand!" I grabbed his hand rather harshly and drew a seal directly with my blood, basically meaning that he was allowed to go in. It was the same seal I had made with old Sasuke when he made me responsible for the rest of the Uchiha's belongings before he left Konoha. He barely winced at the slight burn he must have felt that I was pushing the door open. Sasuke closed the door behind us.

""What's that place!?"

"Our secret exit." I felt the chakra from Jiraya-san's seal in the door. Yep, it was working again. I grabbed Sasuke by his shirt and ran to the center of the room. The walls were all rocks, like in a cave, and there were four light gray pillars forming a square in the middle of the room. Black fuin scribbling was covering the floor between them, and each of the pillar had different seals on them.

" **Tiger seal and let your chakra activate the seal.** "

" _Oji_..."

" **No time, do it.** "

I did, and I squinted when light blinded me. It was warm too, and by reflex I pulled Sasuke against me, my eyes now firmly closed. I felt like I always felt when I used the Hiraishin, but it was slower and more powerful, probably because of the distance.

Then, the coolness of the cave was replaced by wind and the smell of the sea.

"We teleported," Sasuke noticed, moving away from me to take a look around, "it doesn't look like the Land of Fire anymore. It's way too cold."

"True...it's..." I got up, ignored my dizziness and turned around. There was one pillar behind me, and a huge lake in front of us. In the center, there was one small island, from where a tall tower was rising from the ground. But the scenery? Now that I was older, I could say without a doubt it was a lot like the Land of Water.

Way too much actually.

"Let's get the fuck outta here." Sasuke followed me without a word, but his heavy stare was on me, questions lingering in the tense silence between. It went from keeping him from going to Orochimaru to him helping me getting us away from Kabuto by this shitty teleportation device leading to the awful weapon that…

"Akane?" I opened my eyes wide when a familiar voice called me after ten minutes of walking away from the lake.

"Senpai?" Yes, it was Utakata-senpai. And Harusame-san.

"You used it?" the latter asked me with a serious face. "What was the situation?" I opened my mouth when the memories of my last clone hit me. Wow, what a fight. She kept running and led him the furthest away from us and that was basically it.

"I need rest," I blurted out, "and Sasuke has to see sensei."

"You're expecting me to carry you maybe?" Utakata-senpai asked me with a raised brown, his arms crossed over his chest. "No way in he..."

"I got it, the improvement. I'm drained senpai. Please help me." He stared harshly at me, almost glared at me actually, but I didn't have the strength and wasn't in the mood to smirk. He took note of that and sighed, scooping me in his arms easily. "Sasuke, follow them, they're cool."

"Hn." What a radical change of personality…

"Oh...I'm gonna pass out..."

"You're so annoying Akane, I swear," senpai muttered as I was closing my eyes.

* * *

He was sure of one thing, they were not in Kiri. He recognized the woman in front of him, she was in Konoha when Akane had her episodes. Her sensei if he remembered well.

In any case, there was Zabuza with her, who last time he heard, was dead.

"I'm glad to see you both came back in one piece, and that you're not in Oto Sasuke-kun."

"What's that place?" the Uchiha asked coldly, his hands in the pockets of his dirty shorts. The white had turned brown from the bottom to his mid thighs because of the mud.

"Akane didn't tell you? Ah, she must have lectured you instead, didn't she?" He averted his eyes and felt like a child when Zabuza laughed loudly behind her. He stopped quickly though, and one look at the woman made Sasuke realize it was because she was glaring at him. "Anyway, I'm Terumi Mei and..."

"Welcome to the Resistance of Kiri Sasuke!" Sasuke spun around, wide onyx eyes meeting a large grin and big emerald pupils. "Remember me? I'm Uzu's favorite teammate!"

"Akane will explain more once she's awake, but what you need to know is that the Hokage knows you're here and asked us to take care of you until you can go back to your village. For now, you won't have any trouble helping around here, right?" Her smile was too nice, and Sasuke knew he would be in trouble if he refused.

"No," he finally said. "That Resistance, it's part of the reason she was so cold in Konoha, isn't it?"

"It is."

Akane had _so_ much explaining to do.

He barely discovered his clan almost threw a coup against Konoha that he was now in what appeared to be the hideout of the Resistance of Kiri.

Akane better wake up, and fast.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :) Thanks to kankananime123, nevvy and guest for the reviews :). Akane loves taking strays, I think it's something the Seven Swordsmen just love doing. And she hasn't forgotten her memories yet, when she breaks the seal only :)**

 **Bye!**


	40. Kiri Resistance Arc: Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 13**

 **Shisui: 22**

 **Kakashi: 27**

* * *

There were screams.

There was blood.

There were tears.

" _Foolish little brother._ "

Itachi was holding his swords behind his parents, tears running down his face in distress and anguish.

Itachi was holding a bloody sword over his parents' bodies, Sasuke shaking in front of him.

I stretched out my hands when they were in the street, Sasuke's sharingan burning in his eyes as Itachi shot him a glance over his shoulder, tears streaming down his face. I wanted to reach him, touch him, hug him and make all of his pain go away because he would never be remembered as the kind soul he was. I failed.

Just like I failed at grabbing Shisui's hand before he gouged his own eye out, just like I failed keeping him on the cliff and avoiding his fall because nobody would know of his sacrifice, of how he was betrayed by someone of his own village.

When I opened my eyes, I blinked a few time before realizing I was stretching out my left hand toward the ceiling. Where was I? I turned my head to my right side to see nothing but the grayness of the stone wall.

Oh. I was at the hideout. The smell of humidity in the air just confirmed it.

"Ah Akane-san, you're awake!" I sat up and looked at my left hand. The bandages were different, weren't they? "Dai-sensei changed them while you were resting, he made sure nobody else sees it."

"Okay." I took the glass of water she was handing me. "Thanks Karin."

"You're welcome! I took the liberty of adding nettle in it so..." I pulled a face at the taste. "Yes, sorry for the taste but it should help your organism get better faster."

"Thanks doc." I gave her a thumbs-up and put the glass in her opened hand. I answered her questions in a dull voice and once she left the room to report everything to Dai, I frowned. Deeply.

Did she really call that moron 'Dai- _sensei_ '? I went one dimension too far, didn't I?

"You're finally awake." I raised a brow at Sasuke, who had had a change of clothing. His torn blue shirt and white shorts had turned into a thick long-sleeved white shirt and his black pants were stripped vertically and tucked in his high dark blue sandals.

"You look like a genin or chuunin from Kiri. It's very disturbing." I spotted the tray of food in his hands. "Gimme gimme!"

"I've already eaten anyway," he told me, coming closer to give me the tray. He had been fully treated of his injuries too. "Dai-san healed me."

"I figured that much, Kiri hasn't defected yet." Sasuke sat on the bed near my leg as I started to dig in. Once I had just one bite I was done for and was barely keeping myself from eating like an animal because Sasuke was there. "Two questions. How does it feel not to have the Uchiha lollipop on your back and how long was I out?"

"It's strange, but also liberating in a way," he admitted after a second of thinking, not picking up on my comment on their symbol. "You slept for a whole day. You were sleep deprived and your chakra reserves were very low, but Dai-san didn't seem fazed by it."

"He's too used to that by now." Sleep deprived though? The ritual didn't tire me that mu… "Oh right, I _was_ on my way back from a mission."

"Are you rested enough to answer some questions? Mei-san said it would be better if it were you who explained me this whole...thing." Geez, thanks sensei.

"What did she tell you?"

"This is the Resistance of Kiri and her and Dai-san recently defected. Zabuza is not dead as you said. Konoha is aware of this movement for some reasons. Why? Why does Konoha know and is supporting you?"

"Well, basically, everybody in the village has had the suspicion the Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, is controlled and that's the reason why he's the tyrant he is today and turned Kiri in what it turned into. By the way, you're not really a missing-nin because Tsunade-san asked us to take you in in case you defected because Konoha is helping us out. You know, they already let Orochimaru run away easily and he's our enemy too, so if you were to give him your body willingly because you threw a tantrum it would be bad for everyone."

"I didn't..." he stopped himself and sighed with a faint embarrassed flush on his cheeks, which made me smirk in victory. "Why is Konoha helping? Why would the Hokage accept in the situation the village is currently in?"

"To be fair, the Third accepted like what, two years ago?" Sasuke stared at me. "Hi, I've tracked down Jiraya-san, explained the situation and ever since he's been the contact between us and Konoha. Why? Well...actually, it's linked to why there were tensions between the Uchiha and the village." That got his full attention. "Sasuke, you know about the Kyuubi incident thirteen years ago?"

"Yes, the Fourth Hokage died protecting the village."

"Well, I'll probably share a super hidden protected secret but I guess it's better for you to know the full story and not just part of it in your circumstance. God, your brother and father are going to kill me for that," I finished under my breath, a shiver running down my body at the idea of escaping the wrath of not one, but two powerful Uchihas. "The things is, the Kyuubi wasn't just around the village, he was in his jinchuriki. Oh, jinchuriki are the people in which a bijuu is sealed, and there are nine bijuu, including Kyuubi. Anyway, Namikaze Minato was a Seal Master, and a prodigy on the same level than Itachi. The seal wouldn't have just 'broken' with him around. Someone attacked, took the Kyuubi out of his host and controlled him. Now, do you know anything about Uchiha Madara?"

"No."

"What do you learn in school seriously!? The guy was Senju Hashirama rival and created the village of Konoha with him, which led to the entire shinobi village system! Anyway, the guy had an evolved version of the Sharingan called the Mangekyou Sharingan. Long story short, he controlled the Kyuubi once and because of that the Uchihas ended up under the suspicions of having orchestrated the whole attack." Sasuke's eyes widened in shock and rage. I grabbed his shoulders and turned him so he was facing me. "Sasuke, listen to me, you need to understand that an Uchiha most probably did it, but nothing indicates it was a shinobi from Konoha, at least not anymore. Please, _please_ see the difference."

"'Anymore'?" he repeated and took a deep breath.

"Yeah, I mean, there were a lot of losses during the Third Shinobi War and all of the bodies weren't found. For all we know, it's a rogue Uchiha with a grudge against Konoha. Anyway, back to why Konoha is helping us. Well, Yagura is a jinchuriki, he's the host of the Sanbi. You see where I'm going with it?" He frowned and crossed his arms on his chest.

"If I follow your theory, then a rogue Uchiha planned the Kyuubi attack and is controlling the Mizukage in the shadows?" I nodded and he gulped silently. "That's why Konoha has been helping you out. Because it could answer a lot of questions."

"Yep. Rogue or not, the guy is most likely an Uchiha and the Uchiha clan is a part of Konoha, it's their job to deal with their missing-nin. Look on the bright side, everything ends well and the Uchihas are cleared of any suspicion!"

"Or they'll be accused of trying to conquer a foreign village and it's war, between Kiri and Konoha or within Konoha," he retorted somberly. I sighed.

"This...this is all on the head of the clan and where he will place his clan on the matter. It's...decisive."

"And how long have you been into the Resistance then?"

"Oh, well when it started to get tense between Kiri and Konoha, Mangetsu and Dai found me and explained everything to me." I blinked when he blinked at me, seemingly expecting me to keep talking. "Right, you don't know that there was almost war between Kiri and Konoha two...three years ago?"

"I know that, but nobody really knows why." I pointed at myself. "What? You're the reason?"

"Yeah, some political shit that made me a conflict of interest between the two and Konoha decided to 'return' me to Kiri to keep a semblance of peace between them. Dai made me look dead with his senbon, that shit hurts by the way." He snorted.

"I'm aware, thanks." That's right, Haku did turn him into a hedgehog on the bridge.

"That's it, I joined when I went back to the great thing that is the shinobi life. I've been a spy for the past couple of years and had to keep up the act in Konoha to keep the Mizukage's 'trust' if I can call it that for the Resistance."

"That explains a lot about how you acted," he admitted. "Nobody knows about your part."

"Except for the Hokage and Jiraya-san? Kakashi knows since the bridge and I've seen him recently, but that's it. Even if...man, Itachi may suspects something, Shisui too to a certain extent I suppose but they don't know the real deal."

"I see."

"Did sensei tell you what you'll do here?"

"Helping," he answered me, shrugging. That was vague. "This whole situation is a mess."

"Hey! It's now an organized mess!" He deadpanned at me pointing my chopsticks at him.

"If you're a spy directly under the Mizukage, I won't see you very often, will I?"

"You won't indeed, it's been more complicated since they attacked the ANBU HQ, we're sent everywhere and nowhere at the same time because we're understaffed. Stick to the people you know and look around, you most likely will be here for a while. Even if you want to go to Ko..."

"I don't," he cut me off sharply, "I don't want to go back there. Not yet."

"Okay, you won't anyway. You're stuck here."

"By the way, what happened to your teeth?" I placed a self-conscious hand against my mouth.

"I ran away during the traditional teeth-filing when I officially became the wielder of Nuibari. Did you think people in Kiri were randomly born with shark teeth?" He deadpanned, again.

"Figuring why people have shark teeth when I'm fighting them is the least of my preoccupation, you moron." I frowned.

"Little fucker." He frowned too.

"Crazy Uzumaki."

"Arrogant Uchiha."

We bickered, and nostalgia engulfed me. It was like old Sasuke, except it wasn't.

It was comforting though.

* * *

It was...strange to say the least. Ever since the ritual, I had not been feeling...not that I felt sick or anything but...it was as if I wasn't really there. I felt like the world around me was not real in a sense, like I had had a throwback. Hence why I was there, my fingers absently tracing the letters of my name on my tombstone, still here in Kiri cemetery. It wasn't looked after or anything since I wasn't dead, wild plants slowly covering the darkened stone, but seeing it kept bringing questions to the surface.

There was a grave for Uzumaki Akane here, and Sasaki Akane was a Seal Master from Konoha. I had been Sasaki in my past, but now?

It was two different persons. I became a different woman. Somehow, I sometimes didn't know who I truly was. Sasaki or Uzumaki? Seal Master or kunoichi? The whole reason behind that fake name was my parents running away and not wanting the shinobi system to get a hand on any of us, it was to protect us. That was why I couldn't see myself being a kunoichi anywhere else than in Kiri. I already knew for a fact I wouldn't be a kunoichi in Konoha, but...moving back there after…?

I wanted to help sensei and everyone though. I wanted to be proud of the symbol carved in my forehead protector too. I wanted it so much…

The day would come where I'd need to choose who I was. Uzumaki or Sasaki?

I was so lost. That weird ritual fucked me up even more than I already was. Going through death so many times pretty much made me lose focus of everything. I was questioning every single foundation I'd managed to get in the past five years.

"Uzu?" I turned around to see Mangetsu walking to me, hands in his pockets. From his closed and serious face, he was not here to joke around. "I've found Raiga, we're going to get Kiba."

"Got it."

The Land of Rivers. Raiga was in fucking Land of Rivers and created some kind of a family/cult there from what Mangetsu told me. The travel was, or at least felt longer than it should have and I bit my lips with my shark teeth behind my mask. Okay, no thinking about the ritual and what it brought up in my mind.

Mission and Resistance only. Sasuke too but I had frequent reports, as frequent as they could be but it seemed like he was being useful, and trying to learn swordsmanship too.

Anyway, enough talking.

We rested a little when we were in the Land of Rivers, and I kept looking at my left arm. It was still bandaged up, not because of the wound but because I didn't want any comment on my mark. It wasn't just a seal, it was a mark. I also had tendencies to not sleep the entire night anymore. Ever since I've dreamed of the Uchiha massacre through old Itachi's memories, and God why would I dream of _that_ when old Sasuke showed it to me, I was scared of having other nightmares or old memories.

"The village shouldn't be far anymore," Mangetsu told me, putting the map of the area back in his pouch. "It's supposed to be behind the mountains, we climb them and find Raiga fast."

"Right, I have scrolls to look at back home." In all of the stuff my clone put in Uma's pouch, there were two summoning scrolls with the Uzumaki whirlpool on them. I was pretty sure I got my hands on the clan summons.

We walked through the steep mountain trails in silence. In my case, I was sensing everything within a radius of one kilometer, sadly my limit in sensing, and there was nothing yet. Well, at least until we entered mist. A mist that was everything but natural from the dose of chakra in it. Near the mine though?

There were other shinobi, I was sure of it. It shouldn't be a problem though, it was common knowledge that each village had priority over their missing-nin if they were causing troubles to other nations.

We ran along the edge of the mountains, the mines barely visible through the mist in the precipice.

Then I felt it. It was familiar but I had not felt it in decades.

"I can feel him, he..." I frowned.

"But?"

"There's another chakra with him, but it's extremely weak and...fuck, they noticed us already."

"Weak chakra but possibly a powerful sensor?" Mangetsu asked and I approved. "Okay, I'll take care of them, join me once you've checked the perimeter. There are other shinobi and I don't want them to be an annoyance to the mission."

"Understood." I placed a marked kunai in his open hand and body flickered in front of him. Once he started to go toward Raiga I sped up down the mountains, to a plateau lower. I was feeling other chakra, but one in particular.

Naruto's.

There was a Hyuuga too. Alright, I was here as an anbu, but I would need to talk to them. So I took off my mask.

I stopped on the wall I was running on and executed some hand seals.

"Fuuton: Passing Typhoon!" Wind blew the mist away very easily. Neji was down there, apparently staring at me, Naruto wasn't far away, against a tree and confused. Tenten was picking up her weapons from the rock and Lee was above us, on the cliff and looking down at his teammates. I body flickered to be in front of Neji as the other genin were joining him.

"Uzumaki-san," the young Hyuuga greeted me and I nodded in return, my eyes easily catching a glimpse of a ball of bright colors coming our way. Naruto slowed down for a second and blinked at me before picking up his pace. Neji kept him from talking and once Lee and Tenten were there, both of them staring at me in confusion. "Are you here for Kurosaki Raiga?"

"Yeah, my teammate is currently taking care of it. If your mission has Raiga involved, then consider it done already."

"What!?" Naruto exploded, stepping in front of me with fury in his eyes. It...was different than in Konoha. Sasuke's defection really did hit him hard, they were childhood friends in this timeline after all. "What are you gonna do with him dattebayo!? Kill him like Zabuza!? Like an animal!?"

"Naruto, you saw what he did to that village," Neji reminded him, placing a hand on my cousin's shoulder. He shook it off, his eyes never leaving my cold one.

"He's still a human being!" As if on cue, lighting landed in the distance. It seemed like they were really going at it, but Mangetsu knew how to wield Kiba, so he knew how to fight it. However, his watery consistency made me worry over his resistance to Kiba. "You can't just kill hi..."

"Shut up Naruto, he's a missing-nin from Kiri and as such, we have priority over him and his companion who might be helping him willingly. We don't just let our missing-nin roaming free. Now get out of here."

"You..." Naruto started to hiss but Lee draped his arm over his shoulder, Neji glaring at him.

"She's right, Kiri has priority over Raiga. However, we won't leave until we have the certainty that man is dead," the young Hyuuga told me, his voice still making me know I was outranking him, but that he was a shinobi from another village and would fight if needed to. I smirked at that. I liked that kid in the end, and his fight with Naruto seemed to have changed him for the better.

"Then let us work and I'll make sure to let you know once we're done. Take care of the village for now."

I teleported to Mangetsu and he barely had the time to get me out of the way of another bolt of lightning.

"Okay, maybe you're right on how I should make sure the place is safe before I use Hiraishin," I admitted with a trembling smile. Mangetsu was scary when angry.

"Oh, Uzumaki." I turned my eyes to Raiga, who had raised a brow. "You're supposed to be dead."

"It was too boring, Death spat me out right away." He frowned, sword in front of him, so I summoned Nuibari and grinned. He noticed my teeth.

"I see, Mangetsu stole Samehada from Kisame and you became a Swordsman." He didn't look very happy. "I'll make sure Death keeps the two of you this time."

I jumped on the side to avoid another bolt of lightning and landed in one of the many holes decorating the ground of the cliff. I used the Wild Water Wave, but he dissipated it easily with his swords, stopping Nuibari that I had placed in my technique. He started to throw it away but before he could, I teleported to the handle, right in his face and used his surprise to kick him in the face. I tried to grab his swords, but he kicked me away with a snarl on his face. I managed to throw one of his weapon a few meters away though, and I congratulated myself in my mind when Mangetsu sealed it away.

My friend charged at him, Samehada firmly in his hand and the sword purring in anticipation. I would watch from now on, because even if I was a part of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, I was a newbie and Raiga and Mangetsu were both better swordsmen than me. There wasn't even the shadow of a doubt about it, we weren't chosen only for our swordsmanship skills after all.

However…

"Uzu!" Mangetsu screamed as Samehada was sucking out Raiga's chakra. "His back, now!"

"Gotcha!" I body flickered behind him and torn the bag off his back. Raiga spun around, fury written all over his face. I threw the package to Mangetsu and started to avoid Raiga's blows, violent and fast yet pretty...I don't know, it was different. Especially when I attacked back and that he wasn't avoiding as well as before.

"A kid?" I heard my teammate wonder out loud and it got Raiga's attention.

"Ranmaru!" I blinked and averted my eyes to the package. It was a kid indeed, who was conscious but not moving.

It was my moment though. I grabbed his wrist, attached to the hand holding the remaining sword and put an explosive seal on it. Blood splattered on me but Raiga didn't make a sound. I was pretty sure he bit the inside of his cheek but he didn't scream.

He ran to the kid instead.

I teleported in front of them thanks to Mangetsu and the kunai he still had, and as my eyes locked with Raiga's, I felt a surge of power running down my left arm. I could recognize that energy. It was the Shinigami's.

My body moved on its own then. I raised my left arm and let the power erupt, purple chakra surrounding my limb and ripping my sleeve and glove to shreds. Even if we could still see my human arm, the chakra around it form the Shinigami's arm and the symbols on my skin were on their spectral one.

Next thing I knew, my arm was in Raiga's stomach and his face was frozen in pain. There, under my fingers, was something warm and soft. I grasped firmly and started to pull it out of Raiga. My ears started ringing at his scream of pure agony, yet I ended up tearing the warm thing out of his body quickly.

I blinked at the ball of condensed blue energy in my hand. Then, it was absorbed by the spectral arm and it disappeared, the symbols going back deep under my skin.

Raiga's limp body fell on the ground and the kid screamed his name. Mangetsu was staring at me, I knew it, and I was staring at my hand.

I just pulled Raiga's soul out of his body and gave it to the Shinigami. I still could hear them savoring it.

However, I dropped on my knees, emptied of my chakra. I was lightheaded. That...I couldn't use that jutsu when I wanted, it asked too much energy.

Mangetsu went behind me, grabbed my shoulders and made me sit on my bottom, casting me a weird look. He told me we would talk about that later and that he was taking care of the rest.

I didn't move when he summoned crows to eat Raiga's corpse when he sealed his head in a scroll.

I didn't move when he exchanged a few words with the kid, Ranmaru.

I didn't move when I heard him slash his throat with a kunai.

I didn't move when the crows ate Ranmaru's still warm body.

I didn't move when Mangetsu was in front of me and was talking, but I didn't answer.

I didn't move when he slapped me hard enough for me to fall on my hands on the side.

"God dammit Uzu snap out of it now!" he yelled at me. Ever so slowly, I raised my eyes to him, my hand on my burning cheek. "What was that!? You're acting strange since you came back from Uzushio! What's...the marks..."

"I took his soul," I whispered weakly, "I took his soul and don't feel anything about it. What...what have I done to myself?" Mangetsu stared at me blankly and harshly pulled me to my feet.

"Later, you and I will talk later, now we have to go talk to the brats." Brats...yeah, he was right.

I was aware of Naruto's eyes on me, always on me, but I ignored him, and I felt his anger grew because of that.

But he wasn't my priority.

* * *

"You're doing it."

"But...I don't know how..."

"Well you didn't know how to do that to Raiga either and you still did!" Mangetsu replied angrily. "It was hard enough to get your ass to the hideout so now we're gonna find Utakata and you'll use that new weird ability of yours to see his bijuu!"

He threw me on the floor of the 'reunion room', and being at Ao-san's feet was far from pleasant. I got up as fast as lightning and had to endure everyone's stare, including Sasuke's surprised one whereas he was helping Dai and Karin at something apparently.

"Utakata-san," Mangetsu called him quickly, "come with us for a minute please." One look at my face and senpai was convinced, and I was soon in a locked empty room with these two. "Uzu, show him your arm."

"The mark?" Senpai guessed easily as I, while muttering curses, undid the bandages. The wound Sasuke gave me was now a red and still swollen line on my arm, and the black fuin symbols were staying still, like a very bad tattoo. "What about it?" He took a huge step back, his face losing colors. "You're not using me as your guinea pig!"

"She can't go up to the Mizukage yet, you've gotta help us out," Mangetsu stated, grabbing senpai to keep him from moving.

"Does she even know how to proceed!?"

"She'll figure it out!" Man, I was _right_ in front of them. I cleared my throat and they turned their eyes to me. "What now!?"

"I don't know how but I kinda have to know...maybe Saiken knows?" Senpai started at me with narrowed eyes for a long time and ended up sighing.

"Apparently, if you target the jinchuriki's seal with your marked arm it will react."

"It's that easy? Where's your seal?"

"My stoma...did you have to lower my clothes that much!?" I blinked innocently at his bare chest in front of me.

"It's for a good cause!" I defended myself, noticing the rectangular seal on his stomach. I placed my hand on it and gathered some chakra in it when there was nothing.

I suddenly felt like I was diving deeply in water as the oxygen was knocked out of my lungs. When I could breath again, I was in a white space and I was freezing. One look behind me and a shiver ran up and down my body at the sight of the Shinigami, or at least their shadow, and the trapped soul in front of it.

"Is that what you looked like before Akane?" My eyes found senpai's curious ones. I raised a brow and looked down at my hands. The marks were there, but my right hand had a scar on the palm, a reminder of the early tries of my artificial Adamantine Sealing Chains.

"I guess I have my original appearance as it was the one I had when I died," I said quietly.

"You look adult."

"I'm an adult, I'm actually forty-one and not eighteen." He pursed his lips in thoughts at that, so I looked up. I opened my eyes like saucers at the huge slug behind senpai, and its adorable little arms on its side. "Saiken?"

"It's me!" the slug responded enthusiastically. "It's nice to meet you Akane-chan!"

"Ah...yeah, nice to meet you too," I told it with a puzzled expression. Even old Kurama ignored me most of the time and when he talked to me it was to remind me embarrassing stuff. "I'm sorry, I'm used to Kurama's attitude so..."

"Kurama is constantly throwing tantrums, just ignore him. And I'm a 'he' by the way!" Good to know actually. "Congratulations on surviving, I was a little bit worried."

"Yeah...it was something, no doubt about it." Utakata-senpai glaring down at Saiken as if to tell him it was something he should have mentioned before was hilarious.

"Akane-chan, now you know how to contact a bijuu, you need to reach Isobu," Saiken told me more seriously. "He must be scared to be controlled like that and if you talk to him, he could try to make the battle easier for you guys."

"I will then, I...I would talk to the real Yagura then, wouldn't I? And sensei will want me to too once I tell her I can talk to bijuu so..." I rubbed my eyes. "Saiken, I have to tell you something important."

"What?"

"The guy controlling the Mizukage, he wants all of the bijuu. He wants the Juubi." There was silence for very long seconds and as senpai and I were patiently staring at the white slug, said slug dropped his tiny arms on his slimy sides.

"I see, thank you for telling us this."

"That's normal, we...that thing can't come back, can it?"

When I went back in the real world, senpai seemed as confused as me from the sudden change of scenery. However, Mangetsu didn't really understand why because I had been touching senpai's seal for only one or two seconds.

I needed to talk to Yagura now.

When I got home and that oji-chan ordered me to come and talk to him, I did. Because last time I was confused, he helped me making things clearer, so I had no doubt he would be able to help me this time too. I hoped so. I scolded Sasuke and told him of his little identity crisis, but it was far from being credible knowing I had one too ever since Uzushio.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :) Thanks to kankananime123, and nevvy for the reviews :). Yes, basically old Itachi's soul is linked to Akane's, she breaks the seal and frees her soul the same happens to his, if she doesn't his won't be free. Sasuke has a lot to learn on himself and I have plans for him ;)**

 **Bye!**


	41. Kiri Resistance Arc: Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 13**

 **Shisui: 22**

 **Kakashi: 27**

* * *

"The ritual fixed the connection between you and I that was damaged when the Sandaime summoned the Shinigami," oji-chan explained to me with a wave of his hand. "That's not what I wanted to talk about."

"I've just filled you in on what you missed, so my identity crisis I presume?" He nodded and didn't hide the hint of worry in his eyes. Oji-chan was always worry about my mental health and I couldn't blame him. He worried about it more than me, and even though I usually knew when and how to ask for help, he was there in the moments I was pushing myself too hard or when I was completely lost. "I...I don't know oji-chan, I've seen and lived the death of five Yureis and ever since I don't...I don't know who I am. It's my past life that made me change things, yet I just...somehow, I think that the Resistance made Sasaki Akane disappear a little bit more everyday. When I was in Konoha it was easier in a way, because it was the last place I was in, but here...I'm glad, I really am glad to help this time around, because I care about these people too, because even if I wanted to at first I don't want to run from there anymore but...This shinobi part of me..." I grasped my shirt where my heart was and furrowed my brows. "I don't want them to see it. I hated that part of me and..."

"Past tense," he interrupted me, "past tense. You don't hate it anymore then?"

"I...I don't like the idea of fighting and how the shinobi world seems to never be able to talk things out, I still hate what it does to people mentally speaking but...the Resistance made me see a point in it. We can't always talk, and sometimes I even surprise myself liking the thrill of the fight and...oji-chan, recently I've enjoyed getting hurt because it reminds me I'm still alive I..." I sighed deeply. Tensui-san was right, the ritual does mess with your mind pretty badly.

"You're alive Akane, and the world around you is as real as your past life was. Never forget that or it might lead you to do bad things to others around you," he warned me in a stern voice, blue eyes staring intensively at me. "Be careful of the people around you and how you treat them. Acting accordingly to your mission in the Resistance is fine, but treating them as if they were not the people you knew in your past life, as if they were just an illusion won't get you anywhere except your own isolation." How right he was...the episode I had in Konoha was sadly still playing in my mind. "As for you not wanting them to see the kunoichi side of you...I know you know why exactly you hate that part of your life, but I want you to say it out loud. There's way too many things you've kept for yourself for so long, I won't repeat it to anyone or judge you."

"You're my therapist to now?" He didn't laugh at my sarcasm, my good old defense mechanism when it was too personal. I talked a little bit about it to old Sasuke but...well. "I...hate it for the exact same reason why I never mention I have a kekkai genkai. Because of Dad, because I want nothing to do with him. Kiri was his village and everybody know he's my father, everybody told me when I was younger how Fubuki would have been a better weapon for Kiri, how he would have improved faster than me. I hate it, I don't want them, Konoha, to know because I'm ashamed of that man being my father and what it led me to. I'm ashamed of myself for failing at defecting when I was a child, I'm ashamed of submitting to Yagura to protect Dai and Mangetsu on my fifth attempt at leaving that place, I'm ashamed I've been a burden when six months after that as a punishment Yagura sent many oinin after us and how I couldn't do anything but being protected because my shinbone was sticking out of my leg." I was out of breath but I kept going. "I'm ashamed of the fact that I took part in Yagura's sick surviving game twice, I'm ashamed of the fact that I'm worse than trash because I've already killed some of my comrades to save my own skin. Oji-chan, there are times I'm ashamed of myself because I'm terrified of turning like my old man."

"Akane, you won't turn like him, because unlike Ushio, you have people who'll notice your weird behavior before it's too late. Unlike me and Kushina, your friends in Kiri wouldn't hesitate to stop you before you do anything. I think it's an awful thing to being able to stop a friend without a second thought, but there are times where it's the best quality you can have." I looked at him with a puzzled expression on my face. "And you need to realize something. You ran away from that part of you in your past life and had a clear distinction between Uzumaki and Sasaki. Here? Akane, you've _changed_ and you know it. Why don't you see that you don't need to separate the two anymore?"

"What? But..."

"Your past life forged you and now you have a reason to be a shinobi, to fight. You want to make Kiri a better place and be proud of being from there, don't you? It's been five years Akane, stop convincing yourself than you're a better person in Konoha as a civilian, stop going back to that thought because it's security to you, because you know there are people over there who are strong enough to do what you do today."

"I don't do that!" I snapped at him and he glared heavily at me. "I've killed some of my own clansmen, _children_! I'm trying to live with that burden and to cope with it!"

"Yet, your teammates here have helped you, or have you forgotten that?" I opened my mouth but he raised his hand to shut me up. "No, you listen to me now. You keep saying you're a coward, and even if you've proved the opposite in the past years, you still think it and seek Konoha's safety. I'm sorry to tell you, _but_ you're a kunoichi, and if you don't start assuming it once and for all in front of the whole world, fully assuming it and taking responsibilities for everything you've done, then nothing gives you the right to scold Sasuke-kun like you did!" He was angry, and I had nothing to say back. I had a lump in my throat though, and I knew it was tears. "Don't you dare crying about what I'm telling you Akane, you're fully aware of all this but you keep pretending you can keep these two different life styles. You can't. Not anymore. You'll never be able to be a little nobody anymore, to pretend you're average because you're not. You're one of the Swordsmen, you're one of the best spy the probably Fifth Mizukage has at her disposal and you're fully aware that it will probably be you against Yagura in the end because of the Sanbi and these Uzumaki summons you got in Uzushio. It's okay to be ashamed, you should be ashamed, it proves you're still human and not just another broken soul that fully turned into a weapon. Do you think I was fine when I became the Hokage? I killed a _thousand_ Iwa shinobi and even now that I'm technically dead, I'm ashamed and still feel guilty about it. You're scared of what people in Konoha would think of you, but they're shinobi too. And even if they don't like it, your teammates here know and won't hold it against you. Are you ashamed of them too?"

"NO!" I screamed at him with wide and frantic eyes. "I'm not ashamed of them!"

"Yet, when you say you're ashamed of your time in Kiri, you're implying you're ashamed of them too. Akane, I love you like my own daughter, but you need to understand that you'll never walk out of this, and that you need to stop hiding yourself when you're with Shisui-kun, Itachi-kun or Naruto, even your own mother. You've asked Sasuke-kun to tell you who was Sasuke, then I'm taking the liberty to tell you who is Akane. It's a girl who was forced to be a kunoichi in a place she hated and that reminded her of her father. It's a girl who ran and ignored the shinobi world. It's a woman who decided to go to Konoha to have a good place to raise her children, and thus helped the shinobi by becoming a Seal Master. It's a woman who unconsciously succeeded in using the full potential of a powerful Uzumaki kinjutsu and who changed the course of things. It's a woman who decided to stop running because she knew she wasn't as weak as she thought she was, physically and mentally. It's a woman who doesn't want people to go through the same things she went through, who wants to make the place she was born a better place instead of running from it. It's a woman who desperately wants to protect the changes she made and thinks she can do it by keeping some people in the dark even if it hurt them. I'm sorry to tell you, but to me it sounds like someone who've experienced the worst the shinobi world can do to people and who genuinely wants to change it. I know you hate it, and even if you don't see it yourself, I see the Will of Fire, and the will to make a fair world, starting by Kiri. That you want it or not, you took something you hated and made it into something that can help. You've done good in the wrong you've done, it's what gets the best shinobi going. It's time you see it to. It's time you forgive yourself and starts trying to create a new future and not just a replica of the one you once had."

"I'm already doing that!" He raised a brow.

"Have you, really, or did you convince yourself you were doing it so that you didn't have to grieve?"

"Grieve? Who?" His eyes became soft, even if I knew there was a hint of pity in them that made me sick to the stomach because it made me feel like a silly child.

"Yourself. Did you properly mourn yourself, or did you run again?"

This time, I cried. I cried like a child because he just spat the truth I had been avoiding for the past five years right into my face.

There was a difference between knowing something and accepting it, and as oji-chan was hugging me tightly, I realized it was time for me to finally mourn my past life once and for all.

Being a Yurei was a curse in disguise, a blessed curse in a way. It was time for me to make it a real blessing.

Huh…

How hard was it for the past Yureis with the Claw to go through this if they didn't have someone to set their record straight?

* * *

"Oh my...Haku? What happened to your lip?"

"Ah, I was at the hideout and Sasuke-kun wanted to train." I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Did he let you the opportunity to turn him down?" My relative blinked sheepishly and scratched the side of his neck with his nails, a small smile on his lips.

"Not really, and he kept asking Zabuza-san anyway in between relaying messages in the base and helping Mei-san and Dai-san." Right, Sasuke knew sensei was my sensei and because he was an Uchiha, he was directly under her orders. "But he seems to be fine and very focused. He realized the chance he had that you took him here."

"That's the whole point. Hey, now that we're walking to get a mission and before Suigetsu and Chōjūrō are with us, you'd help me put my seals to the test?" I had two Uzumaki summon now, Oki and Umi, who were big old sea lions surprised to be summoned after so long and who could use the Adamantine Chains. There was also a bunch of seals my clone put in Uma's pouches, be it to store chakra, compatibility seals, powerful chakra seals...there was a lot on how to seal powerful beings basically. And a cloak too.

"Of course!" he accepted with enthusiasm and I returned his smile. I was so happy he was alive this time around and that I had the chance to know him. Old Naruto had mentioned him once or twice but I only realized we were family in this timeline.

Yagura, who looked deadly pale and tired, sent us, team Uzumaki, to an island up north, where I knew there was a temple from the Yuki clan. Apparently, some jashinist had been located there. Even if Kiri ordered the purges, they were still ruins of what once were the glorious clans of the village, the Yuki clan being one of the first one with the Hōzuki clan.

I'd known about it for ages, but I never cared about it that much. Since my talk with oji-chan...I realized I had discarded a part of my identity, of my origins, I should never have discarded, because no matter if I liked it or not, I'd always be Kiri. I was ever since I was born.

"I'm going to freeze for real!" Suigetsu whined, wrapped up in his coat. The snow was heavy on the main island, a thin coat of white powder covering the ground of the less misty village at the moment. Here, on the small island from where the Yuki clan was originated, the snow reached our ankles, mostly because this island was inhabited by now.

"Keep moving then," I told him idly. I ignored him muttering under his breath and looked at Haku with interest. He raised a brow at me. "Haku, once we both have free time...would you like to come back here?"

"Why?"

"I don't know, it's just that I've always felt more Uzumaki than Yuki but...I shouldn't ignore it so much y'know? And well...you're pretty much the only other person to..."

"Oh, I see," he whispered softly, his eyes going to the fresh snow in front of him. "I...I'll come with you."

"You don't have to if you don't wan..."

"I want to know more too Uzu-nee, it's just..." he interrupted me but I knew. He suffered from being a Yuki too. In a different way than me, but he did. I offered him a small smile and flicked his nose.

"Thank you Haku, it actually means a lot to me."

The rest of the buildings in the village were covered in snow, hiding the proofs of the fire Kiri started there at the beginning of the purges. The atmosphere was still heavy and was making me way too uncomfortable. Once we went through the ghost town, we entered a wood, the trees lacking their leaves. It was silent between the four of us, only the wind was whistling softly in our ears.

Until we left the woods and the snow disappeared out of sudden, leaving a path of white stones in front of us, wild grass growing with difficulty between cobblestones. There was a temple in front of us, like frozen in time, untouched by the coldness of the area as the wall were still a deep brown. Logical when you know which clan it belonged to that it was unfazed by the cold.

"From now on, stay on your guards. You each have one of my kunai, but stay in group. Who knows what kind of creep we'll end up finding here." They all nodded and went to the left, whereas I was contouring the temple by the right.

It was strange. I had like a weight pressing against my heart and my stomach was aching, exactly like when I was extremely nervous or panicking. There was something or someone lurking around, that was for sure.

I created a clone and made it teleport to my team.

I barely did that that I heard clapping. I grabbed a regular kunai and looked all around me.

"My, my, my, look at you all grown up now. It's insane what fourteen years can do to a four-year-old, don't you think?" My eyes went wide with terror and my body froze, each of my muscle so tense it would probably hurt me to actually move one. I started breathing faster as I slowly looked up. I had not seen him in more than thirty years, almost forty, yet I knew it was _him_.

"D...Dad?" He grinned at me, his brown eyes, the same than mine, staring at me.

"You remember your old man Akane?" I could feel Minato's cold anger in the back of my mind.

" **Run.** "

"But..." Dad raised a brow.

" **RUN!** " I did as he told me, but I bumped into my father. He grabbed me by the shoulders to keep me from moving or even fidgeting because I felt his chakra putting Mom's Immobility Seal on me. I was trapped like a rookie and terrified like a child. From a closer look, the color of his left eye seemed faded a little. I tried to look at the ground to find something to help me and felt cold sweat rolling down my back at the sight of the huge Hiraishin symbol under our feet. It was how he moved so fast then...

"Akane...why does your chakra seem so old?" he asked me rhetorically. Brutally, he took my left hand in his and almost crushed it, but he mainly ripped my bandages to look at my mark. "You... _what did you do_ _to yourself_?"

"None of your business," I managed to hiss between clenched teeth and he glared at me.

"You being a Yurei changes everything." I gulped. Dad knew, he knew right away and I wasn't even surprised. "The clan thought it was just a legend, but your grandmother told me it was the dirtiest secret the Uzumaki clan had. There is no way I'm letting him know too much." I blinked at him. "I'm sure you know a lot about the Akatsuki and believe it or not, there is a rule saying Yurei are to stay hidden and I'm going to follow it."

My clone popped and I saw her teleporting my students to the hideout at the sight of Hoshigaki-san.

However, I started screaming. Why? Because my father had his fingers in my left eye socket, around my eye and was putting a _seal_ on it. I momentarily stopped breathing, the only thing my mind could register being the pain of burning.

When he pulled his fingers out, he let go of me and I dropped on the ground. I was drooling and nothing came out of my mouth as the upper-half of my body fell on the stones, my forehead protector absorbing the impact. My eye was throbbing and shedding tears.

"Listen, I will play my part in this new story you're writing, and I won't let him know about it. The day you see him, because I know who he is like you do and I honestly find that hilarious, my gift will keep him from using his eye on you to interrogate you. Don't let him get you in your right eye." Why was he doing that? Since when did he care about the rules of the clan? Since when did he care about _family_?

He left. He dispelled the seal keeping me from moving and he left me here, alone and too weak to move just a muscle. As if on cue to add a dramatic effect, it started snowing. Slowly, I raised my left hand and placed it over my left eye, blood dropping from my bottom lip because I was biting so hard on it.

He had not really hurt me. He could have, he could have killed me, I was at his mercy because I froze like a rookie and forgot everything I knew. Yagura would kill me if he had witnessed that fight and…

" **Akane get up, I know you can handle the cold but comes a moment where it will get to you.** "

" _I don't wanna oji-chan, I...I want Mom._ "

" **It's not the moment to be a child,** **get up and move but don't stay here. Don't be an easy target!** "

" _You sound helpless and in distress._ "

" **Of course I am, I can't physically help you even if I wanted to!** " Right...it wasn't the time to lay around in the snow.

Stop fucking around Akane.

STOP.

FUCKING.

AROUND.

I grunted as I pushed myself up with my right hand. My team was at the hideout and I had all of my chakra left. I focused and teleported myself to the hideout too, in front of sensei's panicked eyes. She stared at me, dumbfounded, and soon I had my face between her breasts, her arms pressing me against her.

"He didn't hurt you, did he? What did Ushio want with you Akane?" With great effort, I pulled my head out of her boobs, a faint blush on my cold cheeks.

"Don't know, he did something to my left eye, he put a seal on it. I..." She nodded and left. That was when I noticed Sasuke in a corner of the room, a box of weapons in front of him. "Hey you."

"He put a seal on your eye?" he asked me, jumping to his feet. What he was using to sharpen the weapons fell on the floor and he was in front of me. "I thought you couldn't put a seal directly on an organ without precaution!"

"You can but it's forbidden," I corrected him quietly. "That's why sensei went to get Dai. He'll know what to do."

"You're a mess," he stated platly.

"Makes two of us then," I retorted and he snorted with disdain, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I guess so." I breathed out slowly and focused on the little warmth the hideout was giving to find comfort. I wasn't alone in the snow anymore.

"Uzuuuuuuuuu!" I rolled my eyes and stretched out a little as the door was opened loudly. Here was Kimou, alert purple eyes set on me. I raised my hand to greet her and she took it as an invitation to jump on me, making us both fall on the floor. I grimaced at the impact, but Sasuke gawking like an idiot was worth it. "I was so worried!"

"Who's that?" Sasuke finally asked Dai, who arrived without me noticing. My friend shrugged.

"Uzu's number one fan. You haven't seen her steal a kiss from her ye...never mind," Dai explained as Kimou gave me a very slimy kiss on the lips, so much I wiped my mouth with my sleeve but I still could taste the taste of her lemon lip balm.

I raised a hand toward them, my eyes pleading, begging for help.

They both took their sweet time.

* * *

"Hokage-sama," Shisui greeted her when he entered her office. Immediately, he spotted Fugaku and Kakashi in a corner of the room, and from their stiff position, Shisui knew it was serious.

"I asked you to come here because I have an S-rank mission that needs to be done by an Uchiha. Fugaku recommended you. You will be away for a while and nobody, and I mean _nobody_ , can know about where you'll be heading." The jouinin frowned and bowed.

"Of course, you have my word."

"Very well. Uchiha Shisui, you will go to the Land of Water and infiltrate the Hidden Mist." He opened his eyes wide. Why...were they going at war with Kiri? Would he fight Akane again? "I need you to check the Mizukage's status."

"I beg your pardon?"

"As you know, nothing about what's going on in the Land of Water is known on the continent. However, I have heard from reliable sources there was a movement of resistance growing more and more against the current government in power. Terumi Mei is leading this movement, and recently they attacked their own village to make themselves known. Konoha is going to help them as much as possible, just as the Sandaime promised before." Nothing was making sense anymore in his head. Kiri had a movement of resistance? Akane's sensei was leading it? Then, she… "Before Akane left Konoha for Kiri, some anbu infiltrated the village. Among them were her teammates, who told her about the situation. She has been a spy for the past two years and a half." His wide eyes were now staring at the floor. Akane, a spy? Then...then her behavior during the Chuuning Exams was nothing but an act? Relief washed over him and it was replaced by worry. Was she handling the pressure? He remembered Itachi and how he was almost always on the verge of breaking before, so with her own condition… "In any case, they're suspecting the Mizukage to be under a genjutsu from the Sharingan."

"Why the Sharingan?" he asked more to his clan head than his Kage. Fugaku sighed.

"Because, after long discussions, they confirmed me the Yondaime was a jinchuriki. Apart from the Sharingan, no genjutsu can control a bijuu, even if it's inside its host," Tsunade told him gravely and Shisui straightened his back. Akane had been trained by a _jinchuriki_? What kind of training had she been through exactly!? "I want you to go there and tell me if yes or no it's the work of an Uchiha. Officially, Terumi has not accused Konoha of anything, particularly because of our own past concerning Kyuubi."

"Are you implying that, if an Uchiha is controlling the Mizukage, that very same Uchiha could have controlled the Kyuubi back then?" All he got was nods of heads.

"You're leaving tomorrow. The Resistance will take care of everything once you cross the border of the Land of Wave. However, once you're in the Land of Water, you won't be able to communicate with us easily, you'll be on your own with them."

"Don't you trust them?"

"It's not that, but until we have confirmation it is the Sharingan behind all of that, Konoha will only help protecting the civilians in Wave. I am thinking about sending a few shinobi there if Konoha gets too involved, even if they want to keep the fight to themselves. There's no failure acceptable Shisui, understood?"

"Understood," he replied, his face void of any emotions. When he got home, Shisui sat on his bed in silence.

It was in this very same room Akane came to tell him she was leaving two years and a half ago. It was in this room he confessed to her, where he kissed her. Shisui placed two fingers on his lips. After she left, he regretted it a little, confessing and kissing her out of nowhere. He had noticed how shocked she had been, but he didn't think about it. He just did, because he wanted something for himself from her, and it had came in the form of her second first kiss.

He had never planned on confessing or kissing her that night. He probably would not have confessed at all if she had stayed, but she had not, and now he couldn't help but have a bitter taste in his mouth every time he thought of her, bitter taste hiding the taste of vanilla of her lips that night.

He wanted to taste them again. He wanted to have her in his arms again and see her smile at him, her eyes filled with mirth.

He was going to see her though, and no matter how much he wanted to spend some time alone with her, he had a mission to do.

He would not fail.

* * *

I knocked the sword, _my_ training sword I used to practice with when I was nothing but a chuunin with Mangetsu, out of Sasuke's hands with the random katana I had picked up in the room. I definitely could spot traces of the basics in his stance, but overall it was still sloppy. Knowing Zabuza-san, he must have told Sasuke that if he uses his sharin he would stop teaching him.

"You're sloppy. You're gripping at your sword too hard and don't give your wrist enough flexibility to properly block all kind of attacks. With that posture, you can stop frontal attacks only." It was rubbing his sore wrist, I may have gone a little bit too hard on him, that he picked up his sword. "However, your level isn't horrible enough to stay only swordsmanship."

"Can't you just say 'good enough'?" he muttered with an adorable frown on his face.

"Nope, if I said that you'd be like 'oh, I'm not that bad, I don't need too much effort to get better' so I'm shattering your ego before it rises." He scoffed, moved his wrist a little bit more and he was back in position. "Even more interesting. You have Fire and Lightning as your chakra affinities. Please tell me Kakashi taught you something useful." I was pretty sure he used the Chidori against Naruto _before_ , but now? I wasn't so sure if anyone told me anything about it either and I didn't want to screw my knowledge up.

"The Chidori," he answered and I cheered mentally. Good, good, it was good. I went on missions with old Sasuke and knew his fighting style and his moves. I totally could orient him already.

"Then, because you'll probably have to fight at some point, I'll teach a sword trick. The blade is made of iron, and lucky you, it naturally is a conductor." I let chakra in my own blade and it was sharpened by a coat of sharp blue chakra. "I use that a lot, as I am a Water, Wind and Ice user, I use my Wind affinity on my blade. It sharpens it. You, Sasuke, can use your Lightning affinity to, well I don't know about the sharpening part, but it could be good to surprise your opponent if he blocks you or as a shield in a way." Sasuke was listening with attention and nodded every single time he found logic in my words. "Usually, I would tell you to figure how to do it on your own, but use your eyes to see how I am doing it to gain us some time, I'm supposed to leave soon."

Sasuke nodded and activated his sharigan. He didn't manage to do it in the next thirty minutes, but he seemed to understand the trick quite well. So when we were interrupted by Karin when he was about to change from theory to practice, he was naturally frustrated and showed it by glaring at her. I knocked him behind his head to make him stop.

"Mei-san wants you two to come to the reunion room now, she...has something in mind?"

"You don't know either then?" I replied, putting the katana against the wall to follow her. Sasuke sealed his in a scroll, Dai must have given him one, and followed as well, hands in his pockets to feign nonchalance. I wasn't buying it though, I knew he was curious. I knew the faint glint in his eyes, as Aki had the exact same one.

As it turned out, sensei wanted to take a _picture_. There were most people from the movement, and before I knew it I was stuck between my teammates, each of them having an arm draped over my shoulders.

Sensei told Sasuke to go in front of me. He truly wanted to refuse, I saw it, but he still ended up in front me, my left covered arm under his chin to keep him from moving. My team of now chuunin were in front of us, sat on the floor, Zabuza-san standing next to Haku. Senpai and Harusame-san were next to us and somehow, Kimou found a way to sneak between Mangetsu and Naoto, who was rolling his eyes at the mess sensei was creating. Next to Dai were Kiri and Ruka, and others I didn't have much contact with, mainly because I knew there was still animosity toward me.

The picture ended up being taken, and from the happy and stress-free eyes Mei-sensei had, I grinned ear-to-ear. She was under too much stress and I wouldn't let her student ruin something that was making her so happy.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :) Thanks to kankananime123. Yep, Naruto is a weird one :p he'd definitely would try to go in Kiri though x). Oh, I'm on a break for a week next week, so hoepfully I'l be able to write between essay and presentations preparations ! **

**Bye!**


	42. Kiri Resistance Arc: Final

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 13**

 **Shisui: 22**

 **Kakashi: 27**

* * *

"Sasuke is coming?" I repeated with a puzzled expression. Mangetsu just nodded grimly in front of me. "But...I mean, I get she wants to use him for something else than tidying up, but it's the first mission that's supposed to cast doubt upon us, isn't that too risky?"

"I thought so too, but Dai agrees with her so...we're on the losing side."

"When am I on the winning side anyway?" I snarled and my brush went through the paper of the seal I was drawing. I dropped it on the table and ran my hands over my face. "It's not that I doubt his skills, but he'll be spotted from miles around and I doubt my own focus if he's here!"

"I'll slap you again if needed," my friend volunteered, "I'll do that for you."

"Trust me, I don't doubt your word on that," I replied in a deadpan voice.

Alright, some explanations. Kirigakure and the Land of Water were basically autarkical. In theory, they were self-sufficient on any fields and didn't need to import or export goods. Which was true, except shinobi, nothing really went through the borders and the Daimyo was _really_ bothered by that, hence why we had his utter support to overthrow the powers in place.

It was why I loved takoyaki so much. We ate a lot more seafood and fishes than meat, primary because we were surrounded by water and species you couldn't find anywhere else thanks to our diversified climates, but also because of the purges. Nobody wanted to eat something that came out of a soil filled with blood of innocent. It wasn't appetizing and it was hard to grow food because of the state of the lands anyway. It was a miracle we had rice.

I often dreamed of vegetables, not gonna lie. But seafood in Kiri was the best of the best. Konoha takoyaki next to Kiri?

Bland. Just like the ramen in Kiri compared to Ichiraku. Bland.

Anyway, because there was so little lands where we could grow food, the fields were scattered in the country, and to make the transportation easier, the Daimyo managed to have railroads to connect towns.

It wasn't because we were closed to other countries, in the aftermath of civil wars and about to start another that we were less developed than others. For instance, if I provided so many seals to the hospital wasn't because we sucked, but because we were lacking the equipment and people. Obviously, Konoha was still way ahead of us, but they had Tsunade-san, so it didn't count. We had improved our weapons, I didn't want to think of some of the projects Yagura involved me in that were not conclusive, and even if people didn't usually use them, trains were fast here because food needed to be delivered quickly, and to sum up very well developped.

These past two years and a half really made me understand a lot more about Kiri and my country. I ended up finding some good intents and logic in the way everything worked here, like the 'new' graduation exams at the Academy. The scenery was beautiful too at some place, like the Furou Springs, a beautiful spring on an unnamed island up north, where the mist was thicker than anywhere else but it would be gone once you were at the spring. From what I heard, the water was azure and filled with natural chakra. The legend said it was where a very talented blacksmith was traveling long ago, during the Warring States Period, with seven of his newly made weapons. He stopped for a break and made them fall in the spring. When he fished them out, they changed and he could barely take the biggest sword of the seven in his hands because it would try to bite him. Once the wars were over and Kiri was created, the blacksmith gave these swords to the First Mizukage, who chose the seven strongest shinobi of the village to wield them.

The Seven Swordsmen of the Mist were born, and the blacksmith was never heard of again.

There were also ruins of ancient civilizations in the cliffs, not that very far from the village actually.

Man, I was pretty sure we were the only one who had contact with people from the Eastern continent! There were three in the world, and apparently weird ships attacked the Land of the Wind recently, so it could be the continent down south, but we _had_ contact and proof there was something in the East for sure.

Back to the train. Yagura was more cautious than usual, and seemingly exhausted and looked terrible, so he ordered us to guard the next train bringing our rations between Kiribukai, the capital of the country, and Kiri. Unofficially, we were supposed to hijack it and let the Resistance get the rations.

Sensei wanted us, Mangetsu, Dai and I, to take Sasuke with us. Sasuke was good, don't get me wrong, but the three of us were anbu and recognized in our respective fields as the best of the village.

I didn't like that one bit, but I didn't have a choice. Sensei told me Konoha had sent us someone to check if Yagura was indeed under the Sharingan for Konoha's sake, so it would be soon.

So, so very soon. I didn't know who the shinobi was, but it had to be an Uchiha. Or a Hyuuga, don't know. In any case, they were strong because they had to infiltrate the village, reach Yagura and leave.

"Stop staring at it."

"Sorry Uzu, I need to get used to your new eye color."

"It's one shade lighter, no that much of a difference. Get over it."

"You're so rude."

"You were the one staring."

"Still so rude," he mumbled once again, ignoring my words. I rolled my eyes and went back to my seals. The most important thing when you fought with and used seals in mission was to be sure to have lots of them, so a lot of time was spent making them.

In fact, I couldn't say if Mangetsu and I being the only two protecting the train was a sign of distrust or of trust. It was to feed Kiri but at the same time, others could do it just as well than us and Yagura might just have wanted out of his way.

Now I was really thinking about it, he looked terribly sick. Like _really_.

But here we were, me standing on the roof of the train at the front whereas Mangetsu was on the last wagon. Everything had been fine since we left the city, but the train was going slowly because of the snow of December on the ground.

I raised my head toward the mountain above us. Quickly, I threw three of my marked kunai on the side of the train and I caught a glimpse of Mangetsu doing the same, my weapons forming a line all along the train. I went through hand seals quickly and a wave of solid blue chakra rose from my kunai, stopping the avalanche. I felt sweat rolling down my face as I took a step back, the weight of the snow being heavier than anticipated.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Mangetsu jumping from the roof of the train and running to where the explosions were, casually cutting through the snow with Samehada. Right, the genius who mastered all seven swords and he wasn't even nineteen yet.

The more I thought about it, the more natural geniuses were terrifying to me. Being so good at killing and thinking on how to survive when you were just a child was scary.

The train stopped once it was far enough and the workers inside fled quickly in screams and terror. Humph, not surprising.

I jumped in the snow and climbed in the train. There was nothing interesting in the conductor compartment, so I started to go toward the first wagon. I looked outside a window and raised a brow at Sasuke running toward me. Once he was inside too, I noticed the unconscious workers.

"Sharingan?" I asked him and the disappearing redness in his eyes answered me. "Got the list?"

"Yes," he said, pulling out a paper from his pocket. It was mostly food, with some medicine too. "This kind of shipment is crucial for Kiri?"

"Yes, with the natural weather and how we destroyed our lands during the civil wars years ago, nothing really healthy or good grow here. You need to really look for the good spots and they're rare. Kiribukai is the capital and Kiri the shinobi village, so they're priorities."

We sealed what was needed quietly and Sasuke shivered because of the cold once we were outside. Dai was there, alone, and I rolled my eyes at him and his stupid grin when he showed me a senbon.

"Mangetsu and you had a good spar?"

"Yep!" He nodded enthusiastically. Dai had Water, Lightning and Fire affinities, and because he was a medic, it meant he could knock out Mangetsu or Suigetsu wayyyyy too easily. I could to by freezing them, but Dai was...more violent. I knew it was what he used on Mangetsu. A mix of the tricks oinin learned about faking death and Lighning affinity. "Your turn Uzu!"

"He better not complain to me when we wake up," I muttered and my body went numb from the pain when he stabbed me in the neck, electricity going through my body and immobilize me for good.

Needless to say, we were stuck in the snow until reinforcement arrived. The team was led by Ao-san, and Ao-san being the leader of the oinin, he recognized Dai's technique right away. We were asked questions on the entire way home, but once we set a foot in the village we all stopped talking. The atmosphere was tense, way too tense.

"Mizukage-sama," Ao-san whispered with wide eyes. Even if he was with the Resistance, even if he was still in the village right now, he was one of the last person who knew Yagura before he was a Kage. He...maybe he still cared for the real Yagura deep down, especially knowing how he was controlled.

As we ran to the Kage building, my heart started pounding heavily in my chest. He was right, only Yagura could create that kind of the feeling in the air.

"Uzumaki!" Kitsu, Yagura's right hand man, barked at me harshly, grabbing my shoulder brutally. I kept myself from showing signs of pain from his hold on me and I looked in his cold and cruel black eyes. "Go to the hospital now!"

"Why?"

"Kitsu-san, what happened?" Ao-san asked him, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Mizukage-sama is sick, he was sent to the hospital in emergency. They said it could be his seal. Uzumaki, what are you still doing here!?" He pushed me and I barely had the time to keep myself from falling by grabbing Mangetsu's arm. My friend straightened me quickly and sent a dark glare at the jounin.

"Right away sir," I replied coldly and ignored the snarl on his face. He was one of the people who hated my guts and didn't hide it.

I ran to the hospital. If I had the time, I could check the seals I put there. We were supposed to put seals everywhere in town, for explosions, protection and, in my case, markers for my Hiraishin.

"Uzumaki-san, please this way!" A nurse with bright purple hair told me. I walked briskly to the farthest wing of the hospital, the last floor usually used for the extremely fancy patients. The Mizukage was a fancy patient I guess.

The nurse pushed me in a room and a woman with strict features basically forced out of my clothes into a big white suit with a hood, with a yellow visor. She grabbed my wrist, her nails digging in my skin from how stressed she was. I soon found myself in front of a thick window, looking in a white room closed by a thick and sealed iron door. Yagura was inside in a bed, a simple sheet covering in lower body, sweat rolling down his skin. His face was contorted in pain, way too white to be healthy and his brows were firmly set in a frown. He was gasping in pain and I felt sick to my stomach at this sight. In my past life, I had not seen him being anything but strong and cruel. I heard about his death and that was it.

Watching him this much in pain touched me in a way I didn't think I would feel when it came to that man.

"What are you waiting for you idiot?" a doctor hissed at me, throwing me to the door. "It's his seal, do your job!"

"Yes," I mumbled, entering the room. Once the door was closed, I felt them activating the seal, clearly telling me if someone was dying because of Yagura it would be me first.

I still had a long way to go to be accepted here after all…

I took a deep breath, thankful of the protection I had over my body that was protecting me from the wave of red chakra in the air. It was more visible now I was in the room with him, and it was almost hard to breath because of the dangerous chakra creeping up my body. I walked to Yagura and inspected his torso. His seal was weaker than the one I knew, the one Naruto had, as it was leaving the bijuu free inside the jinchuriki. Maybe Isobu and Yagura had been trying too hard to break the genjutsu on their side and the body couldn't handle so much pressure, because the seal was on the verge of breaking. The rectangular symbol had a black hole in its center, from where red chakra was leaking as the ink used to make the seal was dripping on his ribs and onto the mattress.

It was my chance. I could enter the seal. People were watching me, but time was slower here than in the bijuu's dimension, and they didn't have a clue on how fuinjutsu worked. They wouldn't notice a thing.

I put my hand over his seal, not on his skin though. I gathered chakra in my hand and felt the symbols on my arm reacting to the bijuu inside of Yagura. I blinked and the creepy white hospital room turned into white everywhere. I glanced at the shadow of the Shinigami and my soul in front of me and shot a look at my hand.

Yep, my scar was there, I was physically thirty-six.

"You grew up quite well before," I heard a male voice saying behind me. I froze and my eyes went wide. I heard him sigh at my reaction. "I guess your reaction is normal after all Akane." I swear it was a tint of sadness in his voice.

I took my courage in both hands and, with a deep inspiration, turned around. His pink eyes lit up, even if there was no smile on his face. He was silently calculating me almost like a scarred animal.

"Ya...Yagura-sama?" I asked quietly. "The real one?"

"Yeah, the one who's been desperately trying to reach you for the past two years." I bit the inside of my cheeks. His eyes were not cold nor cruel. His face wasn't emotionless. For the first time ever, he was being human in front of me. Behind him was Isobu-kun, big, intimidating, yet his lone open eye was clearly showing interest and an almost childlike curiosity toward me.

"Isobu."

"Red-chan!" I blinked and pointed at myself. 'Red-chan'? Where was that coming from?

"It was how Fubuki called you from the moment your parents discovered you would be a girl."

"What? How...what?" I was totally confused. Yagura raised a brow at me.

"I guess Akiko kept for herself everything related to Kiri, and I gave the order to people to keep what they knew about you for themselves the first time you went back to the village. Or more like that masked man did." It would make sense, I only knew I was born in Kiri and we left when I was one for protection. That Dad and Yagura were both considered as potential Yondaime.

Mom never said anything else, and now I wanted to know everything.

"Do...do you know me?" He smirked.

"Knowing you? Ushio was my teammate, I had to endure him marveling during Akiko's pregnancies. They never told you I was supposed to be your godfather either I guess." I opened my eyes as wide as saucers.

"Talk, now."

"There are things you should learn from your mother's mouth." Really? She had been silent my whole life, would she just open up now!? "If she sees Kiri is no longer a threat to you, she'll speak."

"But how do you know that nickname Isobu?"

"It's because his old jinchuriki was friend with your parents, like the previous jinchuriki of the Rokubi. The two Uzumakis in the village had to be involved in this, the Sandaime wouldn't have had it any other way." It was a lot of new information at once. "I'm sure it killed Naoto inside all those years to keep this secret for himself."

"That's why he was always so concerned about me," I whispered with pained eyes. I'd always thought it was because he felt guilty because of his father, but it was because he knew me when I was a baby? Who else did I know? "I have way more questions than before now, but they're too personal to waste the time we have now."

"Akiko will be able to answer all of these, even if I want to have a long chat with you. We don't have the time. Once you'll fix the seal, I will be forced to be a viewer only. Since the masked man put me in a genjutsu, I felt and saw, heard everything, but I couldn't speak or act, my body was doing that on its own."

"You're trapped in your own mind," I said coolly.

"Yes, the Sharingan can't reach this part of my and Isobu's mind, that's why we're here. Your new condition...when we're close enough, it acts like a thread through the genjutsu, it goes through the cracks and it led me for the past two years and a half. I don't know why the Uchiha didn't reinforce his genjutsu, or more like stopped doing it at some point, but we almost broke the seal in the end. When this meeting is over, you'll fix my seal and I'll be gone once again. I know where to hit though, so when you'll fight me, I'll need you to hit at the same place with your own chakra to break the genjutsu."

"Wow, wow calm dow..."

"Nobody but you can face me, why do you think I've always been going so hard on you, even recently? In bijuu mode? I was doing my best to prepare you. Even if you hate it, you're your father's daughter." I glared at that and he sighed. "Believe it or not, I know your father better than you, and I remember the hopeful and goofy man he was in Kiri. I can only imagine what went through his mind when he killed Fubuki, but you're a lot like him, before he..."

"He what, turned crazy? Became a child killer? A member of the Akatsuki, the guys who're controlling you!?"

"Yet, I remember the man who saved my life more than once and who let me have the hat, who asked me to change Kiri from the Sandaime era." He stared at his feet. "I made it worse in the end."

"It's not you!" I snapped and he shot me a surprise look, especially because of my fiery eyes. "These past ten years...it wasn't you! Now I'm talking to you, and the clues you've been leaving behind...they'll pay for what they've taken from you!"

"You don't hate me?"

"I..." Did I hate him? "No, I don't. I stopped hating you when I was told you were controlled for as long as you were the Mizukage. I realized you had been used like I had been, but you never got out of it. You..." I stopped myself. Maybe there was a way to break the genjutsu _and_ keep him alive! So bam, no new jinch…

"I died," he told me sternly. "And I'll die soon here too. This genjutsu...it's fixed too deep in my mind, the moment it breaks, the amount of pressure you and I will put on my body and my mind to break it, I won't handle it."

"I can find something!"

"You're running out of time Akane!" he roared back at me. "Don't you realize you've been playing cat and mouse with him ever since you came back from Konoha!? He knows! I don't know the extent of what he knows, but I don't think he cares about Kiri half as much as he cares about testing you and your reactions! You were never supposed to become a kunoichi and he turned you into a weapon he knew how to wield!"

I blinked. What...why would Obito want to do that? Did he want me into the Akatsuki? Didn't he have enough strong people already!?

"I don't know what he wants from you, and I'm not sure if I want to know," Yagura continued, calming his breathing down, "but he wants to use you and worst, he knew what you could do." Because oji-chan took his team home more than once, because I loved Obito and believed him when he was claiming he'd be Hokage. "Akane, be careful, especially with what you know now."

"Yeah...yeah I know," I mumbled, cold sweat running down my back. Oji-chan told me I wouldn't be able to be nobody anymore but...but even in my past life? I…

"Sorry to put even more pressure on you, but I had to tell you." I slapped my cheeks with my hands.

"Thank you Yagura." He averted his eyes away, obviously embarrassed.

"Don't mention it!" I couldn't bring myself to teasing him, because it was the first time I was seeing him so human and it would be the last time. "Stop staring too! Isobu, it's your turn!"

"Red-chan," Isobu said and I looked up at him. He sounded like a little boy, like a scared little boy. "What will happen to me after Yagura-kun..."

"You will be sealed once again," I replied without thinking about it twice. He scowled deeply and I surprised myself walking closer to him. "I'm sorry Isobu-kun, I...I don't want to make another jinchuriki, and when I tried to convince sensei to choose me, she said I probably wouldn't handle another bijuu. Even if I hate it, I agree with her. However, there's a reason why we can't let you roam around freely."

"The red clouds?" Yagura asked next to me. I nodded.

"Yeah, they...they'll collect the bijuu in a couple of years. Isobu-kun, I've already told Saiken, but they want the Juubi." Isobu widened his eye.

"Grandpa said he was too dangerous! He said we would be together one day but that it would be dangerous!" Grandpa? Like...the Sage?

"Yeah...so...it would be safer, okay? I'll find someone nice and you'll be friends, alright?"

"Like Yagura-kun?" he questioned me shyly. I nodded, a lump in my throat. He sounded so much like a lonely child, and sealing him would make someone...isolated and hated for no reason.

"Like me, trust Red-chan." I glared at Yagura's amused smirk.

"You'll visit Red-chan?" Isobu asked me with hope. I smiled softly at him and my hand closed itself on one of his big nails.

"Yeah, I'll do my best. I'll do my best to keep you out of danger, and I'll come to your rescue if needed. I'm...I'm so tired of the same old circle of people using people as weapons to be the strongest."

Old Naruto put an end to it after the bloodiest war in History, so if I could make it better on my side too… I shook my head to clear my thoughts at little.

"Isobu-kun, do you know how I could get an extract of your chakra before I seal you?"

"Oh, if somebody's affected, during a fight or if I eat you and you see my children." I blinked. "I have mini-mis inside of me."

"Ha, gotcha." I frowned when I started to feel lighter, and quickly realized my hand and whole body were fading away. "Crap, already?"

"Akane, get down." I looked down at Yagura, who was staring at me. "Just do it!" I did, and I had a puzzle expression on my face when he hugged me awkwardly. "Good job, and be sure to win the fight, okay? You know all of my techniques. Just...I want to die as myself, I want the Bloody Mist to die with me. Make sure you're doing that, and make sure your generation and the following ones create a new direction for Kiri."

"I will," I told him, sure of myself. "I promise Yagura, we'll destroy the Bloody Mist from within and Kiri will rise from her ashes. I promise."

"Thank you, and say to Naoto that I'm sorry."

I was back in the hospital room and my face was sweating. I was breathing heavily, so I hurried and fixed the seal, the dripping ink creeping back up in its place.

The tense and dangerous atmosphere dissipated right away and I finally took a deep breath, taking the visor and hood down. Two nurses came in and took Yagura away, probably to put him in a real room.

I started stretching my arms above my head, wanting nothing more than a hot bath for my sore muscles, write to sensei, eat and sleep. Of course, my ambitions were cut short.

No, not my talk with Yagura that left a bitter taste in my mouth because of how accepting he was toward his fate, but because an alarm started ringing loudly. I took off my suit quickly, almost making my wound in the neck bleed again if it wasn't for the bandages around it, leaving me in my shinobi clothes and I ran down to the lobby.

"Konoha shinobi spotted! Code black, I repeat code black!" 'Foreign infiltration' then…

Tsunade-san wouldn't have sent some kind of bad shinobi, I was sure of it. So...how, why...getting in Kiri was harder than getting out of it, so…

They were in the hospital.

I found myself with Mangetsu quickly, Seihitsu tracking down the shinobi.

They must have been in the hospital, the alarm rang there first. So, logically, they were close to Yagura during his sickness.

They must have been touched by Isobu's chakra and got infected, hence making them sloppy as fuck. We exited the village pretty fast and Mangetsu climbed on top of Seihitsu, behind me, when we were in the frozen swamps. Strangely enough, there wasn't anybody but us for some time.

Well, what was stranger was how Kiri shinobi attacked us without an explanation.

"Okay, genjutsu again?" Mangetsu grumbled next to me. I deflected a kunai with my own.

"Looks like it, a powerful one too."

"They don't even seem to be under the influence of one!" I frowned. Huh, Mangetsu had a point he…

My left eye twitched.

For fuck's sake Tsunade-san, why did you have to send _Shisui_ out of everyone!?

"It's Shisui," I muttered angrily, anger bubbling inside of me. "I'm taking care of it."

"Got it, I cover you then." Samehada ripped her own bandages and Mangetsu charged, letting weapons go through him.

I ran around them and used the already present snow of the ground to make it more slippery with my Ice Release and slid between a shinobi's legs. Before he could follow me, Mangetsu was in front of him. I told my summon to go home, and with a quiet concerned growl to me, he did.

Alright, back to sensor mode now. I let a weak wave of chakra out of me. If there was one thing Naoto was very strict about when he taught me sensing, was that because I had bigger chakra reserves than average and great control thanks to fuinjutsu, wasting my chakra on sensing a big area was useless. Focus on a range around you and feel the slightest thing happening within that range. I still wasn't the best, but I wasn't awful either.

Anyway, I localized Shisui.

He was too slow to be okay. I knew the chakra of a bijuu was toxic, I didn't know if the effects were different depending the bijuu. I sped up and spotted him quickly, worry twisting my stomach. Shisui was known to be fast and he…

I threw one of my kunai. He leaned on the right and body flickered a few meters away as I teleported.

"I told you to stay away Shisui," I told him coldly, my eyes finding his glassy onyx one. "I warned you it would kill you, but you didn't listen, did you?" I summoned Nuibari and picked up my kunai. "You're not giving me a choice anymore."

Honestly, from how much he was shaking and how his eyes were not focusing on anything, I couldn't tell if he was hearing me or not. It was a miracle he could move at all.

However, I needed a proof I killed him or I was screwed.

As I slowly walked up to Shisui, his body failing him more and more, my blade shone under the faint sunlight there was.

I would make sure nobody gets his eyes.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :) Thanks to kankananime123, Ederisu and nevvy for their reviews. Also...yeah, I'm...not a fan of this chapter but I needed to move forward in the story. Did Akane kill Shisui though? Who knows, he's in a pretty bad shape. Don't hate me until the next chapter please!**

 **Bye!**


	43. Kiri Battle Arc: Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 13**

 **Shisui: 22**

 **Kakashi: 27**

* * *

"I mean, you had to." I stared blankly at the wall in front of me. "There's no way Yagura is doubting you now you fixed his seal and..."

"Say it, I gave Shisui's head to Yagura." Dai wrinkled his nose, arms crossed over his chest. "I didn't even hesitate when I had to decapitate him Dai!"

"Uzu..."

"No, Shisui's my friend and I just...I didn't even doubt!"

"Ho come on it's not that big of a deal and you know it!" I widened my eyes in disbelief and flailed my arms around me in frustration.

"'Not a big deal'!? Are you se..."

A moan of pain stopped me mid-sentence and Dai moved away from the wall to go to the bed.

"Where..." a hoarse voice started to say. They coughed and I poured a huge glass of water for them, pushing Dai out of my way. I sat next to them, helped them sit and I couldn't help but sigh in relief when the glass was empty. I had to hit them lightly on their back when the last drop of water went down the wrong pipe.

"Hey there, nobody's gonna steal your water from you." Dai snorted with disdain when they blinked at me.

"It's not as if it was good water to begin wi..." I kicked Dai in the leg, my right hand between the sleepy person's shoulder blades. "Uzu!"

"You're a medic, heal yourself," I snarled at him with a glare.

"What happened?" Dai glared at me.

"I carried your unconscious ass to the hideout while Uzu made you look very dead Uchiha, how stupid do you have to be to..."

"Dai!" I snapped at him as I jumped on my feet. "Konoha's kept everything bijuu related from people, especially the Uchihas for reasons you understand now, there was no way he could have known Isobu's chakra was toxic for him, plus the seal was on the verge of breaking and was more dangerous than usual!" My teammate bit his tongue to keep a snarky remark to come out. He took a deep breath and put a finger on my black shirt between my collarbones.

"I get he's important, that you are someone else in Konoha, but don't..."

"I won't Dai," I assured him, "I promised you guys I wouldn't hide anymore. It's just...I've been told how you were provoking each other in Konoha and I don't want that here. Please?" We had a short staring contest and Dai threw his hands in the air.

"Don't blame me if I defend myself."

"Self-defense is out of my jurisdiction," I reminded him with a thankful smile. He rolled his eyes at me and went back to standing against the wall. I sat back down. "Shisui, how are you feeling?" Shisui rubbed his eyes and I noticed the muscles in his arm twitching.

"There isn't a muscle in my body that doesn't hurt and I want to throw up. I have a massive headache too, like a hangover."

"Yeah, a bijuu's chakra fuck your body up pretty fast. Hopefully we extracted it pretty fast too. The muscles pain will last for days, the headache and nausea should be gone by tomorrow," Dai told him. Chakra infections were the worst.

"You have something to make him better faster?" Shisui turned his eyes to me, staring as if he was just realizing I was sitting next to him. "Hum?"

"Which Akane am I talking to?" I was taken back, I'll admit that. Especially because he was looking at me with distrust. I couldn't blame him though, so I spoke up before Dai could.

"Me, just little old me being in the Resistance of Kiri because I wasn't going to come back and obey like the dog Yagura tried so hard to turn me into." He eyed me suspiciously for a couple of seconds that felt like hours. I was about to get up, starting feeling nauseous myself from how I destroyed our relationship, but he caught my wrist in his shaking hand. "Shisui?" He opened his mouth, then closed it, and he did that for about a minute.

"Alright," Dai interrupted us, "Uzu's sorry, you're sorry, now you get better and tell what you know to my sister. You'll talk and explore the sexual tension between the two of you later." I blushed a bright red.

"Wh...what are you talking about!?"

"You look exactly like Karin when Suigetsu says something about Haku!"

"Shut up!" He snickered and before I could throw something at him, Shisui squeezed my wrist to get my attention back. "Yes?"

"Later..I want to talk." I pursed my lips and nodded slowly.

"Sure, I owe you a real explanation this time." He seemed surprised I accepted so easily. "But you need to rest first, we'll see when you can walk a little bit?" The Uchiha quickly looked around him and offered me a small nod of the head.

"That's fair," he whispered quietly.

"And you felt guilty about decapitating a fake Uchiha Shisui," Dai grumbled to himself.

"Was it convincing enough?" Said Uchiha Shisui asked him without animosity in his voice. Dai was taken back.

"Y...yeah, Uzu and I used a seal we finalized recently. The body was you except there was no kekkai genkai in him. An almost perfect replica." Shisui glanced at me from the corner of his eyes. I shrugged.

"We're specialized in infiltration," I informed him as if it was nothing. And it was, we were sent on assassination missions and stuff in ANBU, but the three of us were still better at infiltration.

We wouldn't have infiltrated Kumo, Iwa or Suna these past couple of years otherwise.

"Thanks to you we also got some of the Sanbi's chakra, so thanks for almost dying Uchiha," Dai added with a smirk.

"I hope Harusame-san will be done with the tests soon."

"Aneki will find a way to contact you anyway. By the way, he's important right? In his clan?" Shisui frowned at Dai talking about him as if he wasn't there.

"How is that any of your business?" Shisui hissed at him as I nodded.

"It's not my business, but there's someone who'll be interested to know you're here." I blinked and realization hit me. "Ha, she finally got it!"

"Akane?" My wide eyes were glued to Dai.

Sasuke was there and would find a way to ask questions to Shisui!

"Hum...I need to talk to someone real quick, see you later!" I quickly told him before running away. I heard Dai say 'damage control' behind the door.

Funny enough, I found Sasuke only five minutes after looking for him in the training room, in front of Zabuza-san and Haku.

"Sasuke!" He almost stumbled forward from how concentrated he was. I nervously waved at him when he shot me a glare.

"I'm busy," he told me coldly. I raised a brow at his tone and he hunched his shoulders. "What?"

"Okay, you already know Konoha sent someone to check our information about the Mizukage, right?"

"Yeah…so what? They're here?" I crossed my hands behind my back and kicked an imaginary stone.

"Yeah yeah...Shisui's resting." There was a long gap in the conversation, that Haku broke with a whisper to his master.

"Is that the man who made Uzu-nee dead to Kiri years ago?" Zabuza-san nodded and I watched with dread in my stomach Sasuke's face changing from irritation to shock to anger. He ran past me, grabbed my wrist in a death grip and dragged me behind him.

"Sasuke you're tearing my arm off!" I shouted at him as he dragged me through the hideouts hallways. I was pretty sure we ran past Kimou and that she said something. "You don't even know where he is!" He stopped in the middle of his steps, a foot still in the air and I almost bumped into him.

I made him let go of my arm and massaged my wrist, pain written all over my face. Sasuke turned to face me and scoffed at my obvious and barely exaggerated pain.

"You're a kunoichi, you've had worst. I've seen you get worst."

"You're not too old for me to kick your ass, watch your mouth." He didn't look scared or anything, so I rolled my eyes. "Are you even ready to see Shisui? He's not your closest relative, but he's still pretty close. Did your anger calm down enough for you to see him?" He looked above my shoulder for a second before going back to my face.

"I think so yeah."

"You're not saying that just to see him, are you?"

"I wouldn't act like th..." He didn't finish his sentence and averted his eyes from mine with a scowl and a faint blush on his cheeks. I flicked his nose and as he rubbed it with a frown, I gestured him to follow me.

"I'll stay now to see for myself if you're okay, then you'll be alone with him. Just...try to think before acting."

As expected, when he stepped a foot in Shisui's room, they stared at each other in silence before Sasuke launched himself at the oldest in the room as he stuttered his name. I grabbed the kid before he could do any damages.

"See? I was right!"

"Yeah, you were," Sasuke muttered, glaring daggers at Shisui who was completely lost. I walked around him and gave him a hug once I was between Sasuke and Shisui. "They're all liars."

"I'm one too technically."

"You're not an Uchiha," he mumbled in my flak jacket, "and you didn't try to deny it."

"And I'm so gonna get killed for that," I added with a sigh. I took a step back and pointed the exit with my finger. "I'll brief him quickly, only important parts. Go back to training, we left Zabuza-san and Haku all alone with no real explanation." He shot one last look at Shisui and left the room, his hands in his pockets. I spun around and talked before Shisui could. "Alright, after Sasuke got his mark, because I'm a Yurei and knew what could possibly happen, Tsunade-san asked us to take Sasuke in in case Konoha failed to bring him back, if he ever defected. It happened, I was in the area and we had people at the border in case anyway, so he's been here for a month."

"But...that's...Itachi hasn't slept for a month! Naruto has been training non-stop and...Tsunade-sama didn't tell me he would be here!" Shisui cried out, flailing his arms around. He stopped abruptly and curled up in pain.

"If your Hokage didn't tell you it's not our problem," Dai intervened idly. Before they could start bickering, I was in front of Shisui.

"Look, Sasuke would have gone to Orochimaru anyway because his mark was going to kill him if he didn't make it evolve. The Sound shinobi almost made him agree but Kakashi talked to him, so he was going to tell Tsunade-san."

"Are you saying he was going to willingly be a bet for Orochimaru?"

"Yep, but he heard Fugaku-san and Tsunade-san talking about the coup and how Itachi would have killed everyone." Shisui opened his eyes wide, his lips quivering. "So...he ran away."

"Itachi was right, he figured Sasuke might have discovered the truth and left on a whim." I raised my eyebrows. Itachi just figured that out with only knowing Sasuke left the village? That was some big brother instinct he had! "But...wait Akane Itachi doesn't know he wou..." I followed his eyes and, with no surprise, saw Dai listening to our conversation. "Shit, that's con..."

"Don't worry Uchiha, I'm already aware, it was hard for Uzu to ignore that part when she told us she was a Yurei."

"A wh...Akane, you told him!?" I frowned at his anger.

"That I'm a Yurei and my seal? Yeah I did, why do you look so outraged about it? If it's because of the Uchi..."

"Why would you tell them that!?"

"Because it made sense when I entered the Resistance to tell my sensei, and in Konoha Dai and Mangetsu saw my seal. I explained it when they confronted me about it. I'm the one who decided with whom I share my knowledge, it's not Konoha exclusive." I cursed Dai when he left me alone with an angry Shisui. "I don't want to start another fight with you, especially with you stuck in a bed."

"Yeah well, too late it's happening." I bit back a groan of frustration. "Why...why would you tell _them_?" And here we were.

"Shisui, I told you what you needed to know and told the Sandaime the whole story. You saw it, didn't you? It's an Uchiha who controls Yagura in the shadows, it's been like that for years. I wasn't going to let them build a Resistance blindly if I knew exactly where to orient them. More than that? The guy who's controlling Yagura, he made it personal a long time ago and I'm not gonna let him win."

"So he did? He planned the Kyuubi attack? You're not seriously thinking about trying to take him down yourself, are you? You'll get killed!" I would ignore his lack of knowledge about my skills.

"Yeah, he did. Then he controlled Yagura and took his dream of changing Kiri away. He turned me into a weapon, and if the massacre had happened, he would have helped Itachi. That Uchiha wanted me as his pawn and I'm not gonna let him live it down, that or all of the other crimes he committed. You have no idea what's coming and if I can help and slow him down then I fucking will!"

"Then tell me what's going to happen! Stop flying solo for once and tell me!" I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Sensei has had enough trouble making me focus of the Resistance, I'm not telling you now or ever. Tsunade-san knows, she knows about me and that you know, it's her call to tell you or not. Sorry, but I'm not from Konoha, Kiri's making different moves and right now, we have to strike to be able to move at all." I noticed how he twitched at the mention of me being from Kiri and he grabbed my arms, making me sit next to him on the bed.

"Let's talk about that by the way: why the fuck are you acting so friendly with them at all? Kiri for..."

"Yagura forced me to be a kunoichi, and he's not himself. I hated the system and the guy, most people because they've always associated me with my father or Yagura, but it doesn't mean I hate everyone and that I don't have anyone here." He looked like I was forcing a lemon down his throat. "You need to stop thinking we don't care about our comrades here. We're the Hidden Mist, of course we're good at creating facades of ourselves for our enemies. But with how Kiri is, the bonds we have are strong. So stop fighting with Dai, he saved me more times I can count ever since I was a genin."

"But..."

"Shisui, I get I've been mean and a real bitch to you in Konoha, but you're good at observing people. You know they wouldn't hurt me." Now it was as if the lemon was stuck in his throat and I was trying to push it down with sake.

"You were a bitch," he stressed in a low voice, almost as if it was the only thing he could say. "I just...I don't want you to stay here doing something you hate and putting yourself in danger. I can't..." He grabbed my right hand and kissed my knuckles gently, making me blush slightly. "I can't lose you again Akane, I just can't. I died before and you moved on, that's fine, I can't blame you for doing that when you died twenty years after me, but I've never lived a life where you were dead and I can't have that, not after..."

"Shisui?" I called him with a tint of worry at the guilt in his eyes. "Wha..."

"It's my fault if you're here again," he whispered and I opened my mouth to reply, but nothing came out. "No, let me talk. It's my fault if you're here, because if you had not come to Konoha to help me and the Uchihas, then Kiri wouldn't have known about you still being alive and...I'm too weak."

"I don't think you're weak idiot, and it's not your fault. It...the Uchiha would have known anyway, he would have tried to kill me and my mom would have died, that's what happened the first time. There's...man, there's a lot you don't know about me Shisui, and when I say Kiri would have found me, it's true. They didn't pick me because I was randomly there but..."

"But what? Akane, please talk to me," he begged me, his nails digging in my sleeve.

"There's a law," I started with tired eyes. "The First established a law by the end of his reign. There wasn't a lot of shinobi because of how hard it was to live here, so he decided that anyone born within Kiri's walls was the property of the village, even if they left."

"You were born there because of your father?"

"Yeah." I took a deep breath. "Dad...Dad's half Uzumaki and wasn't from Uzushio, but from here. From Kiri. My grandfather was a part of the Yuki clan, one of the oldest clan in the village and sadly the first one to be massacred by said village. He brought Mom here after Uzushio was destroyed, and they fled when I was one with my brother. The Yondaime Hokage put me in his Will, saying he wanted me to be a kunoichi of Konoha when I was ready, but he died and without him and with Danzou, it was too dangerous so it never happened. I ended up in Kiri, and left, and went to Konoha. I had to leave because I was a conflict of interest between the two villages, because the law in Kiri is as much valid as a Kage's will, it was a huge political mess. So, it doesn't matter in the end, me being physically here or not, I'll always be Kiri like you're Konoha."

"But why do you like it now?"

"I've spent a lifetime running away from everything related to this part of me. Kiri has represented everything I hated about me, everything I was ashamed of. Yet I created strong bonds here. Most of them died in my past life and I learned about them a long time after it happened." I chuckled bitterly. "Mangetsu is the first friend I had there, he's my best friend. He was before yet I discovered he was dead six years after it happened. Do you think it's fair?" He didn't say anything, he just squeezed my hand tighter. "It's not. But the Butterfly Effect happened, and you being alive meant he would be alive too."

"Yeah, I remember how relieved you were," he muttered under his breath.

"I mean I...for so many years Kiri was just everything I was trying to hide, but when I got back here, on active duty it just...sensei's a leader y'know? She wants to make Kiri a better place and I want a place where you shouldn't be afraid to have a kekkai genkai. I have a goal as a kunoichi unlike before and people who share it, and thanks to that people started to see me for myself. That's why I like it now. I...I won't hide the shinobi part of me anymore, I won't stop it until I judge I've done enough compared to before, and I...even if I've done unspeakable things under the Bloody Mist, I follow sensei 'til the bitter end. You don't need to like it Shisui, but just accept it. I didn't want any of you in Konoha to see that side of me, like I'm sure you wouldn't want me to see what you despise in yourself, but I'm done...hiding it."

"I had no idea," he told me and I sighed because I could hear his useless guilt.

"I wouldn't have told you anything up until what, a month ago? Not long after Sasuke got here. I had way too much shit to deal with about myself, and there's still a lot I have to deal with, on my own." I shot him an apologetic look. "I couldn't drag you in this." This seemed to wake him up as he jumped in his bed and grabbed my shoulders with frantic eyes.

"I'd have helped! Hell, I'll help you no..."

"That's exactly what I'm talking about!" He had the reflex to move back, sinking as deeply as he could in his pillow when I raised my voice. "Sorry, it's just...I know you'd help me, and I know I would rely on you too much, that's how I've always been and I can't afford that. I care about you too much to do that to you." He blushed at my words and it made me realize I had never officially rejected or accepted his feelings for me. From how he was acting...it wasn't just a crush.

"That...that's good to know." I pulled him back up in a sitting position and barely felt guilty at the pained expression on his face. "Careful, I'm still hurt." I then, _carefully_ , sat closer to him and wrapped my arms around his waist, my forehead on his collarbone. He tensed for a second before hesitantly returning my hug.

"I missed you," I mumbled against his shirt. I felt him burying his face in my hair and the small smile dancing on his lips.

"I missed you too Aka-chan," I felt myself warming up inside at the stupid nickname, "and I was so jealous of Itachi..." Huh? "You weren't pushing him away like me, it made me so jealous and...I feel terrible thinking about it, Itachi didn't do anything but his mission and putting up with me."

"As I told him, he was waiting for the wall I put between us to crumble on its own whereas you were running straight in it and I was terrified it would blow up in your face. I'm sorry for hurting you but I...was trying to protect you. You said you didn't want me to get hurt, but I won't let you or Itachi die and leave me alone if I can do something about it. If I had stayed in Konoha, I don't think I would have handled seeing Naruto going on missions and staying back. It's an awful feeling."

"You won't come home then?" he murmured so quietly I almost didn't catch it.

"I'll never be able to be a kunoichi in Konoha, and I don't want to. I...I don't have any attachment to that place and Tsunade-san may be great, but she doesn't have my loyalty."

"I want you home," he said, still quietly, but with more assurance. "We all want you home. You could be useful there too."

"Tsunade-san won't let me be anything else than a shinobi in Konoha."

"You'll have the Uchiha clan support."

"Right now, I don't think it's worth a lot, I don't want to be rude but..." He hugged me tighter, pressing me hard against his chest. "Wait, I don't want to hurt yo..."

"It's fine." I managed to put some distance between us. "But if you were in Konoha I...I'd make sure you're fine and happy and I'd always make sure you know you're cared for, loved and never alone. I swear Akane, I would do anything if it made you happy."

I stared at his eyes, filled with determination. I opened my mouth to say something, but leaned toward Shisui instead, my lips finding his immediately. He froze, much like I did years ago, but unlike me, it didn't last. His left hand found itself on my cheeks and his right hand slid from my neck to my waist. He gave my side a squeeze, which made me wrap my arms around him neck. I moaned in his mouth when he deepened the kiss, his tongue gently meeting mine.

We kissed for a minute before I broke the kiss, both of us breathing hard and blushing. It felt...it was good, he was a good kisser and I was all warmed inside. Right now I could only see him.

"I love you," I whispered and he stopped breathing for a second, his cheeks redder and redder. "But I don't want a relationship, I have a lot of things I want to do, and I won't leave Kiri anytime soon. I want you to be happy though, so much, and you have no idea what your words mean to me, it's...it's the first time a man ever told me that. That's...why I want you to move on." I ignored how he lowered his eyes and I grabbed his hands. "I've already lived, had a relationship and kids. I want you to live now, find someone who'll give you what I can't give you. I just...I want you to be happy."

"You're not saying there will never be a chance then?" I sighed and crushed the little hope he had.

"I don't want you to wait for me. I don't want to unconsciously use you as a rebound. I...don't want to lose you again."

"I don't really want to be miserable when I think of you anyway," he told me blandly. I averted my eyes from him and he leaned on my shoulder, his arms now around my waist. "Would it...would it really make you happy then? Even if...even if one day you may..."

"Then it will be my problem and I'll deal with it," I cut him off, my right hand running smoothly in his messy and dirty hair.

"I'm in love with you Akane," he continued in a murmur, "I'll probably always be in love with you. If...if me moving on is what makes you happy, then I'll do it."

"I'll be happy when I'll know you won't be alone and that a good person is receiving all the beautiful things you want to give me. You're quite the catch."

"So are you and you don't see it, it's unnerving." I chuckled and kissed him on the cheek.

"I probably won't be able to come by to check on you, so please don't fight with Dai or anyone? And rest a lot, and..."

"I know, I will, don't worry about that." He let go of me and laid back down in his pillow.

"We're cool now? Because I won't have these kind of conversations everyday." He smiled, amused.

"We're cool Akane." I smiled brightly at him. I wanted to hug him, but chose to instead leave so that he could rest.

We were cool.

It was all that mattered.

Not even the fact I was missing the safety of his arms mattered.

It was not a 'never' but a 'move on'. It was not a 'I don't feel the same', because I couldn't assure him it was the truth, but it was a 'find someone who can love you like you deserve'.

But we talked and now we were cool.

That was enough.

It had to be enough.

Because I don't think I would ever be able to have a relationship with Shisui without thinking, in the back of my mind, that he was not old Itachi, but his best friend and cousin.

For the first time in a long time, when I left the hideout, I felt light.

It wasn't for long though, as a few days later, I received words from sensei, saying Jiraya-san was at the hideout too.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :) Thanks to kankananime123 the reviews. Did you really think I was going to kill poor Shisui? Nahhhh!**

 **Bye!**


	44. Kiri Battle Arc: Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 13**

 **Shisui: 22**

 **Kakashi: 27**

* * *

Tsunade was pacing nervously behind her desk, her hands crossed behind her back. In front of the desk stood Fugaku, who had been reading Shisui's note for the past five minutes.

"I have sent Jiraya so that he could talk to Shisui himself, but I'm already making a list of whom I will be sending. Do you confirm it's his handwriting?"

"I do," the clan head confirmed darkly, fingers crumpling the paper. "Hokage-sama, I assure you on everything I have that my clan and I have nothing to do with that Uchiha controlling the Mizukage, nor did we participate in the Kyuubi attack."

"I know that Fugaku, and with Sasuke with them, it would be even more trouble. However, even if I know that, the rest of the village still have some doubts about you all. You have to take a decision, if you refute any connection with that rogue Uchiha, then you side with Konoha, end of the story. However, if there is even just a part of you who agrees with what he does, then I will take the appropriate measures."

"And what would they be if I may ask?"

"I won't have any other choice than to exile the Uchiha clan from the village." Fugaku became rigid at that. "The extermination of the Uchiha clan would not be a solution at all, but I would make you leave the village, even if the Uchihas are one of its founding clan. Even if me, as the Shodai's granddaughter, taking that decision would probably light up the rivalry between Uchihas and Senjus, Konoha won't take responsibility of Kiri's crisis for the past ten years. I'll terminate every connection between you and the village, even if it means a war in the future."

"I understand your position Tsunade-sama, but I can assure you that the Uchiha clan has nothing to do with the rogue Uchiha, and has never had any connection with him from the moment he disappeared from our clan."

They stared at each other for a while, until Tsunade closed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. When she opened her eyes again, a satisfied smirk was at the corner of her lips.

"Good, then when I'll send shinobi, you won't mind being part of one of them?"

"It would be my honor to help stop the man who cost the village many good shinobi Hokage-sama," Fugaku stated as he bowed to her. "If I may, do you have any idea of who will be sent?"

"I will send genin for the civilians in the Land of Wave, as they're only doing stuff inside the village we will survive without them for a while. As for Kiri itself, Jiraya will be the one you'll be responding to as if his words were mine. However, I want you to form a team of Uchiha shinobi, four including Shisui who's already over there. I will complete the group myself. Start thinking about it now."

"I already am. Thank you for your time and your trust."

"Having troubles with you is the last thing on my mind right now. You can leave."

Once he was gone, Tsunade fell in her chair and sigh in exhaustion. Once her cup was filled with sake, she let her thoughts drift to the current problems.

The border were barely secured.

Uchiha Sasuke wasn't officially a missing-nin, but only her, Kakashi and Fugaku were aware of that, but also Shizune.

Uchiha Itachi was getting on her nerves, asking for every missions near Oto.

Kakashi and his team, where Rock Lee was replacing Sasuke, were on a mission in the Land of the Moon, but Naruto was also getting on her nerves.

She had Haruno Sakura as an apprentice.

And icing on the cake, she had the opportunity to learn more, or more like getting more proofs on the man who killed Minato and Kushina.

Tsunade emptied her drink in one go.

Being the Hokage was exhausting, she would get gray hair soon with all that stress.

* * *

"Oh hello there," I said to a nurse as I exited the broom closet. Sensei asked me to place three buildings under protection. The hospital, the Kage building and the weapon factory, because in the underground were very dangerous weapons. She also asked me to put a seal keeping people from teleporting inside, so I did. I would need to walk myself.

"What are you doing here Uzumaki-san?"

"Someone threw up, the directer ordered me clean up as if I were his dog." Ruka appeared at the corner of the hall and I ran up to her. "Yo!"

"Ah, Uzumaki-san," she greeted me with a small friendly smile, "how are you?"

"Good good, I'm surviving the Mizukage teaching me a new jutsu so that's good." This technique where he created a water mirror that sent a replica of your opponent and the technique he was using was incredible. Hard to learn, but awesome nonetheless.

Anyway, those seals? Done. The last jounin in the village who were also with the Resistance were all tasked to place seals in the various districts of the village to replace the civilians with the genjutsu Kimou elaborated.

Everything was coming together. Jiraya-san had probably already sent confirmation of Shisui's observations. I don't think Tsunade-san is going to sit back while Obito is around. Konoha shinobi would be in Kiri and sensei wouldn't be able to say 'no' because it was Konoha's business now, as much as ours. I just hope the Uchiha clan, Fugaku-san, has taken the right decision.

Hum...once I left the hospital, I stopped under a street lamp, turned on even if it was the day. The mist was thick and frozen in the end of December. The year was over tomorrow.

It seemed like it was forever ago I went back to Konoha but it was barely six months ago.

"Yo, watcha doing up there!?" I yelled at Mangetsu, who was on a small plateau in the mountain at our secret spot. Said plateau was merely big enough for one person, sitting his back against the rocky face of the mountain, and my best friend was taking all the space, his head not moving from the sea we could see from up there.

This spot was where I passed out in my early genin days. Mangetsu found me and we became friends. It was hidden in the mist and a lot of trees and bushes a few miles near Kiri. It was a clearing surrounded by mountains except for the entrance, and a small lake was formed from the spring running down the rock. Then, there was a waterway separating the clearing in two, waterway flowing into the see through an underwater passage under the mountain. Above the passage was a plateau from where we could see the sea.

However, climbing up there was hard, even for us. The rocks were slippery and extremely friable.

"Mangetsu?" I called him again, wondering why he wasn't answering me. He stretched out his hand and gestured me to join him. "Hey, good way to train me with your marker!"

Because of his body, I couldn't place a regular marker on his skin because he would just get rid of it. So, after long hours spent studying chakra in even more details than before, which was already in extreme details otherwise I wouldn't have made the Pupil Seal, and some tries, sometimes not successful, I placed a marker, with his authorization, in his chakra network.

I am actually a genius! Ah!

It didn't keep him from grabbing my hand when I appeared next to him, a foot into nothing. With a lot of squeezing, I sat down next to him, our legs dangling as we watched the waves crashing down the rocks below us.

"I'm the one who's depressed and pensive, what's wrong?" He kept staring at the vast blue stretch, but he pursed his lips, his brows furrowing an inch.

"Just...thinking about the future, that's all."

"Making projects?"

"More like wondering if...never mind." My blood went cold in my veins and my face lost all traces of teasing. "Even if we win...we won't change the reputation of the village that easily, especially us. I'm worried about that, that's all.

"You mean like shinobi from Kiri now?"

"No, I mean _us_. You, me, Zabuza-senpai, Naoto-san...people who are close, too close to Yagura. Maybe it will be okay for Zabuza-senpai because of his murder attempt on the Mizukage, but us? Naoto's the son he sent to track people down, you're his apprentice and now a Swordsman and I'm one too, ever since I was ten. We won't...none of us is from the lower class either but between middle and privileged classes." I looked at him with a blank face.

"Since when do you keep this for yourself?"

"A while. Dai told me one mentally unstable element on the team was already more than needed." I gulped with difficulty. Not that what Dai told him hurt me as it was true and ever since Konoha he had been extra cautious about me, but Mangetsu was kind of the leader of the team, my best friend, and I didn't know he felt like that.

"Then we'll just show them we didn't agree with Yagura?" I suggested in an uncertain tone. He didn't seem to like it as he lowered his eyes to the waves crashing against the rocks. "I mean, you once told me you didn't like knowing Suigetsu could end up dead at any street corner, so...I know!" Mangetsu raised a brow at my fiery eyes and my fists clenched in front of me in determination. "You'll be the Sixth and bam!"

"Wh...I don't think I have what it takes to be the Mizukage Uzu."

"You so do! I mean, you're strong and have the best interests of the village at heart, that's enough! You just need to show people that's who you are and you have their support! Prove yourself even more than in the past in the final battle!" The corner of his lips lifted a little, sharp teeth grazing his lower lip.

"Then you'd be my right-hand woman and adviser?" I gave him a thumbs-up with a toothy grin, to which he snickered. "We're all doomed no matter what then!"

"To the beginning of the end!"

I knew very well they were trying to protect me like they've always had, but it felt good to be the one to cheer them up, even if here it was just Mangetsu.

Even if, later, when the future host of Isobu told me he was the one that was chosen behind my back, I felt like strangling someone. Why? Because presenting me with a done deal would keep me from trying to change it.

"Why you!? For God's sake, why is it always my family!?"

"Uzu-nee," Haku started with pleading eyes, "please calm down, I'm okay with that."

"You don't know what it is Haku, even if your kekkai genkai made it so that you were compatible...I...people will..."

"But you won't, will you?"

"Of course not!"

"Then it's okay," he assured me with a calm smile. My cousin, because that's what he was no matter how distantly related we were. We were cousins. "You said I wouldn't be alone."

"Yeah I..." I sighed in defeat and fell in my couch. "Isobu is like a child, he wants a friend. You're not host of a monster, see it as a companionship, he'll be a great ally y'know?" He blinked.

"Mei-san didn't present it like that."

"I know, I'm probably the only one who considers bijuu as persons and not monsters. Because they're not, monsters don't have feelings or personality, right? But Isobu does and he's scared and I promised him I would find someone nice to him and that I'll protect him." I looked at Haku with puzzled eyes when he chuckled elegantly behind his hand. "Did I say something funny?"

"Only you Uzu-nee, only you would promise a bijuu to protect them." I half-heartly glared at him. "But I will do my best to befriend Isobu."

"And I'll do my best to keep you from being alone and isolated."

Having Naruto as a jinchuriki was enough, I didn't want Haku to become one too, but I didn't have any power over this. I hated to admit it, but I knew Haku was the best choice.

I would still seal Isobu grudgingly, but I would.

* * *

"So...Sasuke-kun is fine then?"

"Yes," Fugaku confirmed sternly, black eyes lingering on his oldest, who was staring at the tatami. "Itachi, you and Izumi will come to Kiri with me."

"Very well Father," Itachi told him. He stood up without a sound and left the room, then his house.

His hands in his pockets, he walked around the village. Sasuke was fine, because the Resistance of Kiri took him in, and Shisui was over there on a major mission, and Akane was a double agent ever since she went back there and he was still in Konoha, just...waiting.

He was waiting for orders when they could very well be slaughtered the next day.

He would go soon enough, with his father and Izumi, but meanwhile he was left behind. But when did Akane and Shisui bring him up to date instead of planning things between them? It was not he did not understand, because he did, but a part of him was reminding him of the times Akane lived in the village and how Shisui and her had secrets he was not a part of.

But when did Akane tell him important things anyway? Never.

Now Sasuke was with her because _she_ was there for him when he wasn't.

Itachi bit his tongue at the bitter taste in his mouth, a familiar taste. Jealousy.

Jealousy toward Akane and her relationship with his brother. Sasuke, ever since she appeared in their lives, went to her first and not him when he needed to talk. Itachi fully understood that, Akane was older and not a part of the clan, she was looking after him so she was an easy confident who wouldn't tell him to feel or behave a certain way.

It didn't keep him from being jealous of her though, and he hated himself for these petty thoughts he had. Yet he kept having them, and knowing Akane had taken him in and probably scolded him as he needed to be made him jealous and almost angry. She had no right to scold him after all, she was no one.

Itachi stopped at the Naka Shrine and frowned at this thought. He was directing the anger he felt against himself toward his friend when she just...she just followed her orders after all.

"Itachi-kun?" He looked at Izumi, who smiled at him. "I've been looking for you everywhere! Aren't you happy your brother is fi..."

"We don't know that."

"What do you mean?"

"He still left willingly, who knows what he thinks of us, of Konoha now." Izumi took his hands in hers and smiled serenely at him. Her boyfriend did not answer though and kept staring at nothing instead. Izumi lost her smile and her eyes looked at the gray-stoned path under their feet.

"Is it because of her again?" With a pang at her heart, she noticed how Itachi seemed to twitch at that.

"Izumi, it's not..."

"Then what is it? I...I love you Itachi-kun, I have for years but why does every time that girl enters the picture you...you only care about her! I bet you know almost nothing about her too, so why!?"

"I know she cares," Itachi's voice snapped coldly at her.

"What else then? Please enlighten me, because I remember her barely giving a damn about you or Shisui-san when she was there!"

"Don't talk without knowing."

"Is that why you don't talk then? Because you don't know? I know she's your friend but...don't you think you should let go and move on? She's alive, good for her, but she's not there and most probably won't come back here. Please Itachi-kun, let it go like she clearly did."

"You're right," Itachi whispered and Izumi started to smile, but stopped when her boyfriend looked at her with pained eyes. "I need to let go, but not of her."

"Wh...what?" Izumi stuttered and she blinked rapidly, dreading his next words.

"I've put you through a lot because of Akane, but I know I won't stop caring about her, now more than ever. I'm sorry Izumi, but I don't think we should continue this relationship any longer." She blinked away the tears gathering in her eyes. Itachi tried to wipe them away but she slapped his hand. With one last furious and hurt glare, she ran away.

Itachi did not run after her. He didn't feel anything for her except friendship now, and it had been like that for a while.

For now, he needed to clear his head from his petty thoughts and focus on his next mission.

* * *

"What are those?" Haku asked me as he walked out of the bathroom. I had a brush in my left hand, my right sleeve rolled up to the elbow. There were a few drops of black ink on my table, but it didn't matter.

"Chakra storage seal, to boost me up in a fight if I'm lacking chakra. The thing is...it's not progressive, it takes all of the chakra I designed it to take right away. Do you think you could make me a snack please? I'm dizzy."

"Then three is the limit until you're rested enough," he told me, ordered me, as he walked into our small kitchen.

"Sir, yes sir!"

The ambiance, be it at home or at the hideout, was half excited and happy on how it was almost over, and half terrified of losing and the terrible consequences it would hae. Konoha was sending shinobi in Kiri too, not a lot but Jiraya-san, who was still at the hideout, didn't give sensei any choice so she accepted through gritted teeth.

Yagura was completely gone though. I couldn't see him anymore in the puppet's movements. I also had the bad feeling he was starting doubting my loyalty.

"Alright, attack," I told Sasuke when we were training in the hideout. He ran at me and kicked me, I stopped his foot with my forearm. He took his katana and I stopped his blade with mine, but sparks of lightning started dancing around his weapon. I smirked and gathered wind chakra in Nuibari, the sparks disappearing quickly. Sasuke scowled and barely blocked my foot by making an 'X' with his arms in front of him. Still, he slid backward and created a small cloud of brownish dust by doing so. "Hey, not bad!"

"Do you increase your strength with chakra?"

"Heh? Hum...I mean, in fights I've always had the tendency to use chakra to reinforce my muscles but it's nothing like Tsunade-san."

"I see," he drawled and I widened my eyes, making the tiger seal with my left hand to break the genjutsu he put me into. As the boxes behind Sasuke became ripped in half once again, I spun around and grabbed Sasuke's wrist, sparks of a weak Chidory grazing my face. I leaned backward and tried to kick him, but he dropped his sword and stopped me with his left hand.

"Aren't we in a tricky position now?" I snickered, and Mangetsu, who had been quietly watching so far, snickered too. Sasuke smirked haughtily and his Chidori flashed brighter. However, I placed an Immobility on his wrist and left it only on his arm, making it way too easy for me to force him digging in the floor with his jutsu. His puzzled expression on what happened and how it turned out so quickly into frustration was hilarious.

"Fuck!"

"Hey, language!"

"You swear like a trooper!"

"Yeah, but I grew up like that! Konoha's different, don't be like me!"

"Hn." I squinted at him. That little fucker. I opened my mouth to say something but Karin opened the door with enough strength to send it in the wall in a loud 'BANG'. She was out of breath.

"Karin?" I called her and joined her. I put my hands on her shoulders to make her look at me. "Calm down and talk."

"Nao...Naoto-san...fighting...chuunin..." I frowned. Naoto wasn't the kind of person to just get into a fight so… "...in the room...next to reu..." I nodded and left, Mangetsu gaining my side quickly.

"We agree it's not normal, right?"

"A hundred percent."

As we got closer and closer, we could hear voices screaming at each other. It wasn't...I couldn't recognize any of them, it was an intolerable hubbub.

"Just die already Karatachi!" an angry shinobi, his face scarlet because of his fury, spat at Naoto, who didn't say anything, but I noticed he contracted his jaw.

My eyes scanned the room. There were clearly two groups, and I cursed in my mind. It was one of my fear at the beginning, but it faded with time. However...it was clear it was a fight between lower class and others.

I, unfortunately, was part of the others. I quickly picked my side, like Mangetsu, when furious pairs of eyes found us.

"And even more cockroaches! I hope you'll die in the fight so that Kiri can be re-built on good foundations!" I stared at him in indifference, but I could feel some people getting agitated in my back. "All of you who did so much for _Yagura-sama_!"

"Because you've never done something you didn't want to do for him?" I shot back at him. All eyes turned to me and from the corner of my eyes, I saw Utakata-senpai sighing. "Don't speak as if you were innocent, we all suffered from his reign."

"What do you know about that!? You've only seen privileges since you came in that village you whore! You should have stayed out of here!" I raised a taunting brow at him, and from how he clenched his fists he didn't like it one bit.

"And you would have spied on the Mizukage in my place then? Please, before you start rambling about whether or not I should be here, look at what I've done and see if you could have done the same _chuunin_." I was talking back and it was far from being my smartest moment, but it was too late to stop.

"It's easy when you have tutors the entire way! How are we suppose to keep up huh!?"

"Last time I checked, Terumi Dai was from the lower class, with no clan yet he's one of the best shinobi of the village. If you want to do something, then do something instead of bitching on how you're powerless." He lost it and ran to me, people getting out of his way, and grabbed me by my collar.

"I can't stand you Uzumaki, you should have died years ago and you're still there! If you had died, then my brother would still be alive!" I blinked at him and he raised his fist to hit me. "Just your face makes me want to barf!"

As he started to throw a punch, a larger hand stopped it. I looked at my left and found Rahyō-san, eyes as cold as ice. He easily pushed the chuunin back, who stumbled on his feet and fell on his ass.

"We will soon be fighting against shinobi you used to fight with, don't fight between yourselves like children!" Rahyō-san roared and I hunched my shoulders. I had been acting like a child, I couldn't deny it.

"Bullshit," I mumbled under my breath. I turned around and my foot barely moved that I stopped in my tracks, my blood freezing in my veins.

"She should have died instead of her brother." I saw Naoto's eyes getting wider out of sudden, and he raised his hand to catch mine but I was already charging at the poor excuse of a chuunin who just got on his feet. He saw me, saw my eyes burning in anger and paled drastically.

I never reached him though. One moment I was trying to simply just hurt him, the next I was against the wall, sat against it and the bottom of Kubikiribocho, where it was in a moon shape, against my neck. It was the spot used for decapitations and it was just at my neck, blood dripping from my nose onto the blade.

"You're done acting like brats now?" Zabuza-san growled, mad eyes locked in mine even though the chuunin had his head in the hole of the blade, barely conscious. "If you get riled up that easily you should go cool off somewhere else Uzumaki."

I finally noticed how the crowd got larger, my chuunin staring at me, even if in Suigetsu's case he was also sending dark glares at the chuunin. Dai arrived at some point, with Karin and Sasuke. Shisui wasn't here, thanks God it would just make him right about Kiri and me, and Mangetsu seemed to have been on the verge of intervening. Naoto was staring at the floor and senpai seemed slightly happy it was finally over. Kimou was panicked though.

"Alright brats, show's over, move," Zabuza-san stated, leaving no room for conversation. He took his sword away from me. I didn't waste time and walked briskly out of the room.

The tips of my ears were still burning in shame. I let him get to me like a rookie for fuck's sake!

How was I supposed to know his brother was one of the two shinobi I killed for Yagura's sick death match!?

Not that I regretted killing him, it was that or my death. Did I feel bad? Kinda. Did I regret it? No, and I wasn't going pretend the opposite.

I stopped near the 'kitchen' and slid against the wall, one leg stretched out in front of me, the other one folded and my elbow was on my knee, my forearm dangling.

I liked to think of myself as someone who didn't let others get to her anymore, who grew out of that. But that chuunin knew just where to aim. And yet I knew the opinion people had of me was changing, it was incredible how just one negative thing could contaminate everything else.

"Hey." I raised glassy eyes to the Uchiha who sat next to me. Sasuke didn't say anything, he just...sat there.

"Sorry you had to witness such a pathetic show."

"Hn." Nice conversation. "I've been told of the situation in details, Mei-san explained it to me so that I could understand why you were all fighting. It's not just the tyranny, it's the cast system too."

"Yeah, I'm in between middle and higher-class myself, so I've never experienced the lower district by myself. It's the reason why Dai couldn't stand me when we became a team, I was way too privileged next to others. I truly realized how hard it was to have a full fridge when I started living on my own and..."

"You don't have to defend your case in front of me nee-san," Sasuke interrupted me calmly. I shot him a surprise glance and he shrugged. "I'm in no position to judge." I smiled a little and ruffled his hair. He shooed me off.

"It's doing you some good to help here, am I wrong?"

"No. It's making me realize that there was no war in the end," he whispered back to me. "My family and my village are still here and standing, they avoided a bloodshed unlike Kiri."

"They sure did." We stayed like that, in silence, for a couple of minutes, until Jiraya-san appeared out of nowhere.

"Terumi-san is scolding that chuunin, expect her to do the same to you later Akane-chan. In any case I have some news for the two of you." I exchanged a look with Sasuke. "I received words from Tsunade. She's preparing a small team to go in Kiri and fight, and Fugaku made one himself. He'll be here too." Sasuke went livid next to me. I draped my arm around his shoulders. "She'll send genin team to help with the civilians little by little. The first team should be here soon." I nodded and my nails almost dug in the soft flesh of Sasuke's shoulder.

"Thank you telling us Jiraya-san." He waved me off and left in a puff of smoke. "Sasuke, once Shisui is able to move without tripping over his own two feet, you should ask him to teach you the Body Flicker Technique."

"Hn." I sighed and got up, giving him a hand. He took it and got up too. "Father is taking Itachi, I know it."

"Well, I won't tell you otherwise, it's the best option available." As we parted ways, I let my thoughts wander. Jiraya-san was there, so Naruto was still in Konoha.

Shouldn't they have left on a trip together though?

Right, oji-chan said: stop trying to make things as they were before, try to make them better.

Everything didn't need to happen the same way.

The Uchihas were alive after all, and Sasuke not under Orochimaru's influence.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :) Thanks to kankananime123, nevvy and salinagriego for the reviews. Remember nothing's set in stone yet :). Oh, and what's the fanfiction you're talking about nevvy? I'm interested!**

 **Bye!**


	45. Kiri Battle Arc: Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 13**

 **Shisui: 22**

 **Kakashi: 27**

* * *

"How stupid," I gritted through clenched teeth, Haku sewing the gash on my stomach as gently as he could, "was I," I bit my tongue when the needle pierced my flesh, "to think he wouldn't turn my kunai against me."

"It's a good reminder for you, you're not invincible," Mangetsu droned tiredly in my couch, his legs stretched out on the coffee table and an arm over his eyes. "You used a lot of chakra too, an open wound that can be sewed easily is a miracle." I snorted in pride at that.

"I'm not that stupid."

"Yet," he added with a smirk. I tried to throw something at him but Haku pulled harshly on his needle, making me screech in pain.

"Don't move."

"I would be able to move perfectly if we had not blow up a ship. Two people can't kill the crew of a ship and destroy a ship."

"We did," Mangetsu said. I rolled my eyes at him.

"You know what I mean!"

"Yeah, but we did. We're wounded, but we did." I gave up on arguing with him, Haku's eyes telling me to shut up if I wanted to be done with the needle.

It was a new year. There were genjutsu seals all around the village. There should already be some genin in the Land of Waves, and they would escort the civilians from the hideout to the village in Waves. The team of stronger shinobi should be here any day now and they would respond to Jiraya-san.

We still needed to figure things out.

Where would the fight with Yagura take place, what part of the village could we sacrifice easily.

Who would we be fighting.

Would the Akatsuki be here knowing we knew about them, knowing Dad and Hoshigaki-san knew the village and its secrets like us.

Would Obito really care about Kiri anyway.

How long would it take for Isobu to regenerate once Yagura's…

I rubbed my eyes in my bed, Mangetsu's breathing on the floor reminding me I should go to bed. I was studying a way to resurrect a bijuu faster, to basically force its chakra to grow back if a part of it was sealed. I found that in Uzushio too, more like I found the theory and I was figuring out a way to make it real. I had to make it in time, but I needed sleep if I wanted to do good.

Yagura was a dead man walking.

I screw my eyes shut and dug my head in my knees, my conversation with him coming back. Yagura was a dead man walking. Yagura was supposed to be my godfather and…

" **Go to sleep, it's late.** "

I closed my eyes and opened them, finding myself in front of Minato, who looked concerned. I shot him a tired glance.

"Will you tell me what really happened? What's the Eien Hansen?" He didn't look at me in the eyes. He kept staring at the ground, almost as if he was reliving bad memories.

"Do you believe your father insane?" he asked me instead.

"Yes," I replied with no hesitation. I frowned and crossed my arms over my chest, Yagura's voice playing over in my head. "I don't know, Yagura seemed...doubtful. But he did what he did!"

"Tell me Akane, Itachi, before, he killed his entire clan."

"So?"

"It was to protect the village, right?"

"So?" I stressed, nervously taping my right foot. "Dad's nothing like him."

"How would you know, you were four." I froze and looked at him with disbelief. He sighed. "Don't give me that look, I'm thinking. You left for protection and ended up in a war-zone. What if Ushio decided to make one sacrifice for the sake of..."

"He tried to kill me and killed Fubuki instead, don't you dare defend his actions!" He took a deep breath, a pained expression on his face as fury was written all over mine.

"What I'm trying to say is, Itachi chose peace and no civil war over his family. Maybe Ushio came up with the same conclusion. He took his place in the Akatsuki, no? For everything you change, there is a compensation. Maybe it's that."

"What would it have accomplished then!?" I burst out. I walked over to him and grabbed his jacket.

"I'll tell you once Kiri is safe, for now..." I saw red and pushed him away.

"Don't try defending him and then not finish for fuck's sake!"

"I'm not defen…"

"You know what? You're right, I should sleep and not listen to your bullshit any longer. Bye!"

"Ak..." I didn't hear the end of his sentence that I was back on my bed. I slipped under my sheets and closed my eyes, anger still bubbling inside of me.

"Uzu?" Mangetsu mumbled sleepily, turning his head a little to face me, even though his eyes were still close.

"Go back to sleep." He yawned and did as I covered my head with my sheets.

I wanted to understand, I really, truly wanted to understand. Old Sasuke even told me I should try to know, but I told him I was perfectly fine in my ignorance.

I was.

I wasn't anymore though. However, I wasn't so sure I was ready to know yet. I raised a hand to cover my left eye. He didn't kill me, he gave me a seal that would protect me from Obito's Sharingan.

I didn't understand him.

Maybe...maybe Mom…

I slapped myself. No more of that, sleep.

Sleep was good.

Yet, my sleep was plagued with images of slaughter, of a young Sasuke screaming for his parents, of a young Itachi crying when he killed his parents, of a young girl trying to wash the young children's blood from her hands in vain.

* * *

"Are you avoiding me?"

"Why would you think that?" Naoto replied, still checking the food reserves. He moved from one shelf to another, never making eye contact.

"You were already awkward after I talked to your dad, since the fight it's worst. Did I do something?"

"You didn't."

"Then what!? You've known me since I was a baby, you..." It got his attention, because he put his hand on my mouth and trapped me against a shelf, eyes wide in panic.

"Who told you that?"

"Yagura! He said Dad and him we great friends, that he gave orders to people who knew me when I was a baby not to tell me."

"I see," he whispered to himself. "Nothing else?"

"Nothing else. Do you know something?"

"I do." I opened my mouth but he talked before me. "I won't say anything, it's not my place to tell." I deadpanned at him.

"Really? 'It's not my place to tell'? It's my life!"

"Yeah, so you should ask the one who gave life to you." Fuck, point to him.

"Doesn't explain why you've been avoiding me," I mumbled with a pout. He stared for a second and flicked my nose. I rubbed it, much like Haku when I did it to him. Now you had the one who've done it to me for years. "Spit it out."

"I feel bad about that stupid fight you got involved in, that's all. You're making a fuss over nothing."

"You literally left the room when I got in it this morning."

"Fine, I'm sorry, happy now?" I smirked and crossed my arms.

"Yep." He rolled his eyes and went back to his work. I left the room, happy with myself, and went to the training room. Shisui was there, on crutches, explaining to Sasuke how to do the Body Flicker Technique.

"You're doing it wrong!" Shisui told Sasuke. He made a step forward and stumbled. I body flickered behind him and grabbed him by the back of his shirt to pull him back on his feet. I almost strangled him from how he gasped for air. "Thanks Akane."

"You're welcome," I replied with a smile. My eyes found Sasuke's scowling face. "Frustrated? Regretting Mangetsu's sword training now?"

"Shut up..." he muttered under his breath. He tried the Body Flicker again, but too much chakra in his feet made him fall face first to the floor. Again, from the stains on his pants. I raised a brow when I felt Shisui's insistent stare on me.

"Wha..." I choked the end of my word when he put two fingers in my mouth, tracing the edge of my shark teeth. With his other hand, he ran his thumb under my left eye. I rolled my eyes at him and took a step back. "Nothing important, I'm still here." He pursed his lips in doubts.

"Whatever you say I guess..."

"Anyway, the first team of genin should be here by tomorrow." Even if Sasuke didn't show it, it was obvious he was dreading the meeting. It wasn't just his team that had been affected by him running away. Others had been hurt.

Nobody knew what happened to our shinobi. They had been half-eaten. Sensei didn't really talk about it, but I was sure it was still lingering in the back of her mind.

The next day, as I was getting ready to go back to Kiri, I found myself facing Zabuza-san, followed by Team 10 and Asuma-san.

"Oh, hey guys," I greeted them, making sure my back pouch was not budging. "Welcome, good luck." I eyed Shikamaru's green jacket for a second. "Congrats for your promotion?"

"Ha, thanks sensei." I waved him off.

"Don't call me that, I haven't been for years." I glared at Zabuza-san when he snickered. "Something funny?"

"You teaching something."

"I could say the same to you." He glared back and I smirked in victory. My smirk vanished though when Team 10 gaped at something behind me whereas Asuma-san frowned.

"Oh, look Sasuke!" Shisui's voice exclaimed behind me. I spun around and saw Sasuke almost running to me with clear annoyance in his eyes.

"Nee-san, tell him to stop following me around," he hissed at me, apparently not noticing his fellow shinobi.

"Sa...Sasuke-kun?" Ino stuttered and he finally saw them. His posture straightened up.

"Huh, that's why the Hokage was relax about your case Sasuke," Shikamaru drawled, casting a quick glance at Chouji whose hand full of chips was immobile in front of his mouth.

Sasuke's gaze lingered on them until Shisui grabbed his shoulders with a big grin on his face. Sasuke started fidgeting, but I could see Shisui's nails digging in his shoulders.

"Asuma-san," Shisui continued calmly, his eyes going to his colleague, "who are the other genin?"

"Gai's team, Kurenai's team and Kakashi's team." That got Sasuke's attention.

"We were all summoned at the same time. Team 8 should be next to arrive, then Team 7 and Team Gai." I nodded at Shikamaru's information. Naruto would be here…

I kept myself from sighing. Hopefully it wouldn't be too bad.

"You're leaving?" Shisui asked me.

"Yeah, I can't stay away from Kiri too much, I don't want to blow my cover up just yet."

I left.

I was surprised at Shisui's behavior toward me. I was glad it wasn't as awkward is it could have been, don't get me wrong, but he was...not vocal about the part I was playing, he was compliant, and it felt really good.

I blushed a little at the thought of showing him what I could do and that he didn't need to protect me so much, that I totally could protect him and show him Kiri would be a great place someday.

* * *

"Naruto-kun sure is stressed," Lee remarked, his team, Sakura and Sai, Sasuke's replacement, staring at the blond shinobi pacing in front of a confused Inari.

"You can't blame him, do you remember how Akane-sensei was in Konoha and during our mission? Naruto was mad at her and now he's told it was an act."

Sakura bit her tongue. Naruto was lost and needed someone but they couldn't afford that now. Plus, unlike what they thought, Naruto had something more on his mind.

Sasuke.

Before they left, Kakashi took them apart, told them Sasuke wasn't with Orochimaru but with the Resistance, told them Akane got him before he crossed the border. They still didn't know why he left though, something about it being classified information.

But the identity of Naruto's mother was also classified, yet he knew about it now.

It had been hard few months for Naruto and Sakura was aware of that. Yet, she just...didn't know what to do to make it better. It was like everybody he cared about was leaving him.

"I know!" All eyes found Lee, who got up as if he had been stung by a bee. "The Power of Youth always appears in training! NARUTO-KUN, LET'S TRAIN!"

"I don't want to n..." He dodged a kick and a vein popped on his temple. "YOU'RE SERIOUS BUSHY BROWS!?"

Maybe Lee was right. Maybe training and letting some steam off would do him some good.

Sakura hoped so, because she felt like a terrible friend. She did not have a clue on what to do.

* * *

 _What…_

" _Where..."_

" _You're awake," a cold voice told me. I rubbed my eyes, trying to protect me from the light piercing through my curtains, but it was useless._

"' _tachi? 's that you?" My sleepy eyes searched in the room for a sight of my 'boyfriend'. Would we ever talk about the nature of our relationship? Who knew._

 _I saw him when he sat me up brutally, forcing two pills and water down my throat. I almost choked, but the cold fury in his eyes shut me up. I wiped away the water that dripped on my chin, my eyes never leaving him as he got up to go to the bathroom. Even from here, I saw the stains of blood on my floor, and on my bedroom's floor, and I knew there were some more in my living-room._

" _You were going to die from blood loss," he stated blandly when he washed his hands. I touched the bandages around my abdomen. They were too tight for my taste. "Why?"_

" _Some rogue shinobi was being annoying. The chief of the village asked if someone could do something about it against money. The magic word got to me and I was harshly reminded I was still rusty," I drawled. I hunched my shoulders under his frozen glare._

" _And you had to go alone." I frowned._

" _I need money to live, it doesn't grow on trees and now they're relaxed." I jumped on my feet at the flicker in his eyes. "What, not happy about it?"_

" _Your recklessness is extremely annoying." It was strange, how his composure was crumbling, barely, but still. How he was clenching his fists so tightly his knuckles were turning white._

" _Yeah? Well last time I checked, you're not my father, my brother or my boyfriend. I haven't seen you in months Itachi, don't come here and lecture on my recklessness when you..."_

" _A few minutes later and you were dead," he snapped coldly at me._

" _That's my problem, not yours! Nobody will cry for me if I die! Actually, I just want someone to finally put me out of my misery!" I kept glaring angrily at him when he had my neck in his warm hand, onyx eyes which were losing their light glaring back at me. "Please do, that's what you do after all!" I barked at him. I was taken back by how mean I was right now, and he seemed to be taken back as well because his hand fell limply at his side._

 _He closed his eyes and walked in my living-room. It was only when his Akatsuki coat was back on his shoulders that I broke out of my lethargy. I ran after him and leaned against the wall when pain made itself known again._

" _Wait Itachi, I didn't mean to..." I panicked with wide eyes. He opened the front door, ignoring me. "Itachi!" I pushed the pain back and tried to reach him, only to bend over my table when I felt a stitch popped. The door closed behind him. "ITACHI COME BACK!"_

 _Tears were running down my cheeks. Why, why couldn't I just say 'thank you' like a normal human being? Why did I have to be a bitch because I was so lonely and didn't know how to deal with people's concern anymore?_

 _Why did I have to make him run away too?_

 _He did not come for a while. I was starting to get used to the idea of not seeing him anymore when he decided to come back. I was a waitress at a small tea house and a client had asked me if I wanted to go on a date with him. A second later, two men entered, wearing black coats with red clouds on them. They sat quietly, my dumbfounded gaze stuck on them whereas the guy was blushing. I finally looked at him when I caught sight of Itachi's onyx eyes._

 _He stared at me rejecting that poor boy. Actually, he stared until he left with Kisame. I closed the tea shop an hour later and quickly went home._

 _I nearly jumped out of my skin at the silent figure in my couch._

" _Fuck Itachi," I snarled at him, a hand on my poor heart. I walked to my table and dropped my stuff on it. "Staying like that in the dark is really not..." I opened my eyes wide when he was in front of me and pulled me harshly against him, my chin resting on his shoulder. He buried his face in the crook of my neck and I could feel him inhaling quickly and deeply. My hands moved by themselves and grabbed his coat in his back, my fingers firmly grasping it. "I'm sorry," I heard myself say in a small voice, "I'm sorry Itachi, I'm sorry, I'm sor..." He hugged me tighter and nibbled on my pulse point, making me moan shamelessly in his ear. His hands moved to my hips and he pinned me against the wall next to my bedroom door, his mouth moving hungrily against mine. Only when he started slipping a hand under my shirt did he let go of my mouth, leaving me panting and blushing furiously._

 _There was something in his eyes, like a sort of urgency. It seemed at ease when his hand stopped on my heart._

" _Itachi?" I whispered faintly, my fingers already getting rid of his coat. I wanted him too much, I wanted to touch him._

" _You're mine," he mumbled for himself. I blinked confusedly at him and took his forehead protector off once his coat was at his feet._

" _I am," I agreed softly, my lips kissing his jawline as he was undressing me quickly. "I am all yours Itachi." His eyes were burning in lust and almost despair when they finally locked into mine. His warm and calloused hands were roaming up and down my now naked body, squeezing spots he knew would make me moan, and I squeezed my legs because of the heat pooling down between them._

 _A few hours later, we were both in bed, two sweaty messes tangled in white sheets. My head and right hand were resting on his bare chest, the sound of his beating heart soothing me. Itachi had his arm around my shoulder and his thumb was making circle on it. It was rare oh him to let me this close when we were still awake._

" _Akane." I raised my head to look at him. He was staring at my ceiling with a frown on his face, his free hand under his head as a pillow. "That man from earlier, does he flirt with you often?" I blinked and chuckled against his torso. His fingers tightened around my shoulder._

" _You're jealous maybe?"_

" _Hn." I propped myself on my left elbow, my right hand going up and down his torso. I smirked at him._

" _Don't pout, and to answer your question, sometimes but it was the first time he asked me out. Don't worry though, I'm not interested." It was almost invisible, but he relaxed. I kissed him on the cheek, at the corner of his lips. "Is that why you looked troubled earlier?" He finally looked at me with a raised brow._

" _I looked troubled to you?"_

" _Yeah...I mean, I didn't expect to ever see you again but you basically jumped on me when I got home." I let him get on me, one hand on my waist, the other next to my head._

" _I wasn't planning on coming back to be honest," he whispered to me, his nose touching mine. It hurt to hear him say that, but I couldn't blame him. "But not because of what you said."_

" _Huh?"_

" _You...you need and deserve more than what I can give you Akane." What? "But I know you and nobody will come to check on you but me, and if I don't you might just bleed to death in your bathroom again." There was something in his eyes again, worry, but it wasn't just what he was saying. There was something else._

 _I wasn't happy about what he was saying though._

" _That's it?" I managed to ask even with the lump in my throat. His eyes stared straight into mine and his lips kissed mine briefly._

" _You're mine," he said once again in a whisper. I barely heard him, it was as if he wasn't allowed to say it, like his darkest secret he did not want anyone to find out about. "I know I can't give you anything, but I don't want you to be with another man. I..." I placed my finger on his lips, a smile dancing on my lips._

" _I'm in love with you Itachi." He opened his eyes wide and shocked me by doing so. He had never been so stunned. "But it means you won't go to other girls either?" He found his composure back._

" _Do you think I do that?" I shrugged._

" _Don't know, you're handsome, lots of girls must be trying to get in your pants." I bit back a moan when he pressed what was usually inside his pants against me._

" _I don't care about them," he sensually whispered in my ear. I shivered in anticipation and closed my eyes, ready to kiss him back, but nothing came. I opened an eye and was surprised by the concern lingering in his gaze._

" _Itachi? What's wrong?" I asked him and sat up, him now on his knees between my legs._

" _If you ever feel danger lurking around, if you're in immediate danger or if you hear about something dangerous...just run Akane. Don't try to fight, run." I gulped. If he was saying that...there was something going on. Maybe the Akatsuki knew about me._

" _I will, pinky promised." I crossed my pinky with his. I bit my lips when Itachi still looked concerned. I hated it. "Itachi, I will be careful, so please now make love to me." His concern finally disappeared, understanding I wanted to change the subject. "I guess that now, if I ever get into something dangerous, you'll be in your good right to scold me." He laid me down on the mattress, humming in agreement. I smiled when he started kissing me in the neck._

" _How do you want me to do it?" I shivered again at his smooth and deep voice in my ear, the hairs on my body standing._

" _Sweet," I mumbled, my nails grazing his shoulder blades as he placed my legs around his waist._

I woke up abruptly, gasping for air and my face burning. I slapped my cheeks. I was about to see Itachi, this eighteen year-old, in a relationship with another girl Itachi, why would I have dreams...no, memories coming back to haunt me at night!?

I was totally going to blush and become a tomato when he would be in front of me!

I grabbed my pillow and pressed it against my face to groan in it. Maybe reading these books were not a good idea after all.

* * *

"Huh, you became a touristic guide then." Dai pouted at that. "Team 10 liked the destroyed scenery?"

"You know, as much as tourists do."

"Team 8 should leave soon," I mumbled for myself, "Shikamaru said Team 7 should..."

Dai jumped on his feet when we heard something crashing near the entrance. We exchanged a look and I followed him, grabbing Karin when we ran past her.

"Alright people, there's nothing to see!" Suigetsu declared loudly. We slid between the few shinobi watching the show and my mouth and throat became dry when I saw Naruto tackling Sasuke to the ground. He had one hand on his collar, the other closed in a fist and raised in the air, but immobile. Sasuke wasn't moving and from the blood at the corner of his mouth, he might develop a bruise soon.

Sakura was watching, fidgeting on her feet as if she wanted to do something but was scared of doing so. Kakashi was observing and I felt Jiraya-san coming this way with Shisui.

"You...you..." Naruto stuttered. His shaky hand now matched his conflicted gaze set on his best friend, said best friend who did not budge and barely looked at him. "LOOK AT ME TEME!"

"Hey now!" Jiraya-san intervened, catching his fist easily. He pulled Naruto away from Sasuke by grabbing him around the waist and Shisui offered a hand to his cousin.

Sasuke ignored him, bumping into Dai and I on his way when he left. I followed him with my eyes for a couple of seconds and shot a questioning look at Suigetsu. He shrugged.

"We're supposed to go on a patrol, your cousin just punched him when they saw each other." He left and grabbed Karin.

"Hey let me go you moron!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs, Konoha's team now looking at us.

"You're coming with us Uzumaki!"

"Uzumaki?" I heard Sakura repeating as I watched these two leaving and bickering.

"Uzu loves picking up strays during her missions," Dai explained and I punched him in the shoulder. He rubbed the sore spot while pretending he was in pain. "I mean first Haku, then Karin, and Sasuke."

"Sasuke was planned." I turned my head to meet Naruto's blue eyes. There was a raging fire in them and I wanted to run away from it.

"Anyway," Jiraya-san said loudly, all eyes now on him, "Kakashi, I'll show your team around, Shisui will take you to Terumi."

They left, Naruto's eyes lingering on me a little longer and I returned it, until he was out of sight.

"Uzu, let's train!" With an arm securely wrapped over my shoulders, he dragged me to the training room. Once we were inside, he pushed me to the other side of the room and I almost tripped over my own two feet. "Come on, you're training for a new technique and we haven't had a good spar ever since I defected!"

"I'm here once to three or four times every two weeks, it makes it hard." I jumped on the side to dodge three electrified senbon. "Dai!"

"What, Chief Dwarf won't tell you when he'll try to kill you!" I puffed my cheeks like a child and moved a foot back, flexing my legs to get quicker movements.

Dai may be a medic, a great one at that, but we always made sure he could fight efficiently on his own too. That plus how his sadistic side and knowledge of medicine appeared in missions and he proved a lot of people he wasn't the weak member of the team.

I ran up to him and, when in front of him, bent and transferred my weight on my hands when they were on the floor. Then, I kicked him. My foot clashed with his forearm protector in a muffled sound. From my right hand, I made a storage seal and summoned a random kunai.

Dai barely avoided getting his tendon slashed by my blade. I fell forward and ended up kneeling on the floor, a smirk at the corner of my lips.

"It's so annoying that you spend so much money on weapon to get them out of nowhere!"

"Always expect the unexpected dear friend." The words barely left my mouth that his water whips was constricting my movements. My fingers brushed the whip but the seal was never applied as he electrocuted me, enough for me to drop on my knees, all of my muscles numb.

I closed my hands in fists and grabbed the whips as much as I could. My brain registered my chakra flowing through my hands and out of them in its numbness. I bit my tongue because of the pain when my explosion was more brutal than intended because I couldn't really feel anything.

"Crap," I muttered, checking the palms of my hands. Burned, the pinky red flesh skinned under what was left of my gloves was burned. I made a water storage seal out of my foot and activated it, turning the water into a thin layer of snow on my hand to cool them down.

"Uzu, how many times have I told to keep your suicidal tendencies for last?" Dai asked me way too patiently, as if he was scolding a child. I glared heavily at him.

"Shut your mouth Terumi." I prepared myself when he charged, and finally used that technique. The water on the floor rose in front of me in a large and tall circle, the water in its center solidifying to make a mirror. "Suiton: Mizukagami no Jutsu!" Another Dai left the mirror, but he dispersed himself before they clashed together. Dai stopped and looked at the puddle of water at his feet. I snorted in disdain. "He lasted longer this time, before he was gone two steps out of the mirror."

Before I left, Naruto managed to catch me. He followed me until I reached the entrance, and Utakata-senpai, who was guarding it, told me he wouldn't let me leave if it was to have a pissed off Uzumaki after. I deadpanned at him, silently reminding him I could just teleport but he did not care. That was how I found myself in front of Naruto in the room I often slept in and that turned into a room for Sasuke, Dai, Karin and Kimou.

"You lied," he accused me with harsh eyes, the blue of his eyes a shade darker than usual. "You said Zabuza was killed."

"I couldn't blow my cover up. You understand, don't y..."

"Of course I understand, I'm not some dumb kid!" he exploded, taking me by surprise.

"Of course you're not Na..." He didn't let me finish though. He grabbed me by my collar and lowered me to his level. I bit my bottom lip when I finally, finally saw how lonely and confused he truly was.

"I don't get it nee-chan! Tsunade-baa-chan said Sasuke left but he's here, and you know about why he left and I don't but I want to know! I want to help him but he keeps avoiding us! And you keep being on his side! You've always been on his side and you love him more than me!" My eyes went wide at that and I was pretty sure bI clawed him with my nails when I hugged him tightly against me, my nails digging in his skin.

"No, no Naruto I love you both, Sasuke just has a tendency to be easily-influenced and has a lot of pressure on him from a lot of people, that's why I gave him more attention. You...You know how it is to have a hard life and being alone, so you...you know what you could lose by making hasty decisions." I heard him snort and he raised his head toward me, big blue eyes watering. "Sasuke is completely lost right now, he needs to re-evaluate a lot of his choices."

"But...but can't you let his family do it?" I sighed softly.

"I...they're not there right now, and I was there to keep him from crossing the border. Once they're here...I don't know, you're right it's not my place to do anything but..." Sasuke was still hurt by the lies he was fed with for years, from both sides. Would he be okay once he would be back in Konoha? "We'll see once they're here and how he reacts to them." Naruto's eyes narrowed and sharpened.

"Is it because of them?"

"Can't tell you couz'." He smiled a little to himself and I kissed him on the forehead. "I won't be here a lot, I won't be able to spend time with you considering the situation, I may not be the sister you know but please, forgive me?"

"Buy me ramen when it's over," he mumbled as he hugged me back, his voice muffled by my jacket when he buried his face in it once again.

"Deal." We hugged each other in silence for a couple of minutes. He grew up. Mentally and physically, his blond hair was tickling my chin. "I missed you Naruto. A lot." My respiration was almost stopped by his arms circling my waist.

I didn't remove his arms. Instead I ran my covered hand, the left one, in his hair, my face buried in it. This Naruto still had a long way to go and I was part of his life now, I couldn't keep forgetting it.

Sasuke wasn't the only important person for the future. Naruto was just as important if not more.

A few days later, I received words from Chōjūrō that the team from Konoha had arrived. On the very night, I went to the hideout. As usual, even if it was nighttime, there were still people awake.

I needed to see how Sasuke was doing though so I was headed to the training room, because I was doubting he was sleeping with his father so close. I was fully ready to make him spar for a while, up until I spotted Itachi standing in front of the room. He must have heard or sensed me because he looked at me from above his shoulder.

"Hey I..." He walked straight to me, his hands in his pockets, and just walked past me without a word or a glance. I blinked multiple times and spun around to watch his retreating back with astonishment.

What was wrong with him?

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :) Thanks to kankananime123 for the review!**

 **Bye!**


	46. Kiri Battle Arc: Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 13**

 **Shisui: 22**

 **Kakashi: 27**

* * *

Uchiha brat.

"Do you...want them to yell at you then?" I asked with hesitation. Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously and I jumped back to avoid the violent sparks dancing brightly around his blade.

"I don't want them to scold me, I want them to show they care just a little bit!" he growled back, red flashing briefly in anger in his eyes. I put my sword away and he did the same. "It's not as if I was acting normal before I left! You're literally from another village, taking part in the Resistance and you're the only one who told me I was fucking up! Even Kakashi has been more vocal about my mistakes than them since they're here." I pursed my lips. Sasuke needed to get things off his chest. He was allowed to doubt his family's reaction to him.

But in no way I would tell him what I thought of Fugaku-san's parenting skills. Uchiha kids were hard to raise.

"Mikoto-san will make all of you talk once you're back in Konoha. That's the superpower that comes with being the only woman in the Uchiha household."

"So they won't tell me I've been a prick until I go back?"

"Please watch your language around Konoha," I asked him and cleared my throat. I heard a muffled chuckle behind me and shot her a look. "Something funny Karin?" She blushed as brightly as her hair and went back to her book. "By the way, why are you studying here? The medical field is very complex, Sasuke's bitching can't possibly be helping you." I avoided Sasuke's petty fire jutsu and extinguished the boxes with a water jutsu.

"I'm avoiding the idiot, he keeps saying Haku-kun is busy so he won't com..." She stopped mid-sentence when she realized what she was saying. Huh, funny how Karin had a crush on Haku ever since he saved her in the Forest of Death.

"He's busy actually." Preparing himself mentally to become a jinchuriki. Gosh how it was irking me! How would Naruto look at me if he knew I was turning family into jinchuriki?

Because he didn't give a shit that Haku was related to me on Dad's side, to Naruto he was also his family.

"Good morning Akane-chan!" I raised a brow at Jiraya-san and smiled at Shisui and Itachi at his sides. Shisui returned it, Itachi was emotionless.

I...had the bad feeling he was avoiding me, but I didn't know why.

There had been a reunion, to start a plan of attack.

Genins were moving the civilians and some chuunin would be sent to the Land of Wave for security.

The three buildings I put under barrier seals were the ones we had to take back first, especially the hospital to make it a base, a point of rallying. I was going to place explosive seals at precise places in the mountains surrounding Kiri, powerful enough to make small avalanche and block everyone in the village.

There were two entrances in Kiri. The main and north one, connected to the rest of the island through the mountains, close to the high-class district, and the south one, leading to the fishing and military harbor, near the lower-class district. We would infiltrate the village by the sewer, coming out of it in the lower district while others would be a distraction at the main entrance.

Guards were guarding the important part of town, so the north.

I would take care of Yagura in the lower district too, as it would be the less expensive to re-build. None of the housing were in order anyway.

We also evoked the Akatsuki problem, how two of them were in the country not so long ago. I had ignored Shisui's worried gaze when I said I saw my dad. How, if they were to be involved, it would be bad because they knew the village as well as we did, because, with the regime in place, a lot of the security system was obsolete. Efficient, but old, used, and predictable to them.

Also, Mangetsu and I defecting would be the signal to launch the attack. The swords were kept in a temple deep in the mountains, near the shop of the guy who filed my teeth. It was highly secured but we wouldn't try to be discreet when we'll be stealing them.

We were both being watched already, my team was as well.

I blinked in confusion when Sasuke jumped in front of me. Oh, Jiraya-san had inched closer with a lewd smile when I was thinking. Huh, from Shisui's face he didn't like Jiraya-san's behavior.

"Sasuke, Jiraya-san has something for me. He won't try anything, Naruto yelled at him back in Konoha about that, and he doesn't want me to tell some people." I smiled sweetly at him and he paled, the idea of a pissed off dead Minato terrifying.

"Right!" I took the two papers he gave me, the size of the palm of my hand, and put them in my back pouch. Seals to contain the chakra of a bijuu. I could constrain, but not block it.

"Thanks, you're a life saver."

"Do I get a rew..."

"Jiraya-sama, Fugaku-sama wanted to talk to you about something!" Shisui pipped up, limping to us pretty fast for someone who had a crutch. Jiraya-san couldn't reply that he was dragged out of the room by a, dared I say, angry Shisui.

Adorable, truly. What was less adorable was how Karin sneaked out of the room when the atmosphere between Sasuke, Itachi and I dropped drastically. You could cut the tension with a knife, and I didn't know if it was me, or Sasuke, but Itachi had something on his mind. That much was pretty obvious.

"So...what are guys doing all day?" I asked nervously. Slowly, Itachi set his eyes on me, for the first time in a long time he really looked at me. His lips stayed still for seconds that felt like hours.

"Don't you already know?" he replied coldly. I fought my instinct telling me to take a step back, to leave him alone.

"I'm not a mind reader."

"Hn."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked him quietly. His eyes flickered to his brother for a second, who was watching us with attention, even if I knew Sasuke already knew I wasn't comfortable.

Itachi didn't answer. He turned away from me, ready to walk away from me and an image of old Itachi leaving me for good to die came back in my mind. My eyes filled with horror, I caught up to him and grabbed his shoulder with my left hand. Long and slender fingers closed around my wrist immediately, clenching it in his death grip. He turned back to me, a frown marring his face.

I didn't even have the strength to be angry. I just...I didn't want him to leave me behind again.

"Nii-s..."

"It's none of your business Sasuke," his brother snapped coldly at him. Sasuke clenching his fists at his side squeezed my heart.

"What did I do It..." I winced in pain when his nails started digging in my wrist, my glove creasing under his fingers.

"It's what you know," he hissed at me and I started fidgeting to get rid of his hand. "What you have no right to know." The coup. He was...talking about the coup.

"It...hurts..." I managed to say through gritted teeth, my right hand trying to remove his but he just clenched harder, to the point where I was worried for the bone of my wrist.

His eyes turned red out of sudden and I finally understood what was happening in his mind. It was the same thing that happened three years ago before I left for Kiri, when he told me he wouldn't hesitate to kill me if he was ordered to.

I was from Kiri, and I knew the Uchihas wanted to throw a coup, confirmed it to his younger brother. I knew too much about Konoha's inside politics and struggles for a foreigner.

I was a threat. I was a threat and...he didn't say it aloud, but I was sure he was thinking it.

I was an outsider, no one, not important, _disposable_.

He didn't see me as his friend but...but a shinobi, a...threat.

From the corner of my eyes, I noticed Sasuke freezing in is spot. Itachi...was scaring me too.

"Let go..." I whimpered pathetically and since when did it hurt to speak? What I finally understood brought back too many painful memories, the pain Itachi caused by just doing his job three years ago, the pain old Itachi caused by leaving when I begged him not to leave me, aching once again.

Obito said that a shinobi who didn't follow rules was trash, but that a shinobi who abandoned his friends was worst than trash.

I had been the second option...Obito made me choose the second option too many times in the past!

But Kakashi followed that rule after Obito's 'death', taught it to his students, and as the Hokage to the whole village, and Naruto continued to pave that new road.

I was sure Itachi would follow it too without hesitation.

But I wasn't Konoha.

We weren't allied yet.

His reaction...it hurt to admit, but it was logical.

I got close to a criminal Itachi and got burned when he left me.

I got close to an Itachi who was still in his village and got burned when I had to leave.

What did I expect this time, coming back wearing Kiri's symbol?

I struggled harder to get rid of his grip. I swore I felt something snapping in my wrist.

"Stop moving Akane," he ordered me coldly and I bit my lip until it bled, fighting the stupid tears prickling my eyes.

"Let me go!" I made the mistake to look into his eyes. For a second I couldn't move or anything, but when I could he blinked with confusion and looked at me weirdly. But his grip was slack and I managed to slide my hand out of my glove, falling on my ass in the process. The bandages under it were ripped and I gently took my bruised wrist, a bump now on the side, in my hand, cradling my marked limb.

Unfortunately, it seemed Itachi's anger momentarily left and he stared at my wrist. He opened his mouth to say something about the marks he _shouldn't_ be seeing and I turned away from him, crawling on all four, or more like all three, to hide.

It was okay.

I snorted loudly.

It was fine, there was a distinction between shinobi Itachi and regular Itachi. Sometimes it was hard to see the difference.

I did keep him in the dark about the coup, he just learned it. He guessed I was from Kiri on his own.

Maybe he thought I was a spy back in Konoha now. It was normal for him to doubt me.

It was okay for him no to trust him, he didn't know like Shisui.

So please, please heart stop aching.

"Wait, let me see." I heard him tell me. By reflex I curled up a little bit more on my bruised limb. Did he want to see what he did or what I did to myself?

"No." I blinked away my tears and looked above my shoulder. Sasuke was standing in Itachi's way.

Itachi looked distraught.

Probably just my imagination.

"She needs medical attention," the oldest tried to reason with the youngest. Sasuke snarled.

"I know and I'll take care of it, you just stay away from her." The coldness and anger in Sasuke's voice seemed to have its effect, because I saw his lips twitched, but barely. Before, Sasuke witnessed how violent Itachi could be in the massacre. I...was nothing next to it.

"Sas…"

"Don't say anything Itachi!" He winced at his name. "You don't want to talk to me or acknowledge what I did? Fine! But don't treat her like that when Akane is the only person who's been honest with me and treated me as her equal and not some kid who's too dumb to understand!"

"You're not dumb."

"I can't say the same thing about you. It's not some random shinobi you have doubts on, it's nee-san!"

But in any world, the day will happen where Sasuke will be disappointed and oppose his brother.

"It's okay Sasuke, I wouldn't trust me either in his situation, I'm an outsider," I whispered, attracting their attention to me.

"He broke your wrist!"

"It's nothing." I shyly stole a glance at Itachi. He wasn't even looking at me.

Yeah, a broken wrist was nothing next to a broken trust.

I should have kept ignoring him. I should have stayed away.

Sasuke snatched my glove away from his brother's grasp and gave it back to me. I thanked him quietly and winced slightly and I put it on.

I didn't think it was broken, but definitely damaged.

Shisui's cheery voice broke the tense silence in the room, Sasuke still glaring at his brother.

"Wait, what's wrong guys?" He looked at all of us and I would have laughed at the way his eyes almost popped out of his sockets at the sight of my bloody lip. "Akane, what happened!?"

"Nothing," I answered before Sasuke.

"But..."

"Take him away," Sasuke told him.

"Okay?" Shisui dragged Itachi away. The first one was wondering what was going on, the second one was staring blankly at the floor.

The door shut silently behind them. I took a deep and painful breath.

Something was broken between Itachi and I, and I didn't know if we would, we could fix it.

To be honest, I wasn't sure if I wanted to even try to fix. I…

One way or another, by my fault or not, he kept leaving me.

Why even try when the gap between us was obviously impassable?

I didn't have time for that.

I didn't have the energy for that.

I didn't have the will for that anymore.

* * *

"Doubts? Okay. But you used violence without talking first? That's not you Itachi!" Shisui growled at his cousin. Said cousin was sitting against the wall, his eyes staring at nothing. "I mean, I get where you're coming from, I really do, but why didn't you try to talk first? It's not just because you're jealous, is it?"

"You've known for a long time." Shisui pursed his lips.

"Yes."

"My father too."

"Yes."

"I can't not see her as a threat without reasons to." Shisui knew Itachi was right, and from the hollow look in his eyes, he knew that being kept in the dark by them had hurt him. The oldest Uchiha felt a pang at his heart when Itachi raised lost eyes to him, asking for answers. "I don't want to see her like that either, I've been hating myself for my behavior ever since I arrived but I can't help it, when I see her I can't be her friend. Tell me why she knows and why it's not a problem whereas she's from another village!"

Shisui's mouth was as dry as a desert. Itachi deserved to know.

They had been protecting him for years, from what could have happened, but it was obvious the day he would start knowing things, he would be hurt and would want to know more.

But he couldn't betray Akane's trust, it was her story to tell, it was too big of a story to be told by anyone but her.

She wouldn't though.

She wanted to protect Itachi and make sure he would get to live his life. Deep down, she also didn't want Itachi to see her differently. She wanted to keep the two separated.

"I assure you she has no ill attentions toward Konoha." Itachi rolled his eyes at that. "Look, why don't you try to ask her?"

"She won't tell me, she's never told me anything, she'll always keep me in the dark." He looked down. "She never asked for my help, never...I could have helped. Why did you keep me in the dark, why didn't you tell me?"

"It's not..." Shisui sighed and sat next tyo his cousin. "You were thirteen Itachi, you were thirteen and you were spent like a thirty-year-old shinobi. You went to therapy right after."

"So did she. I just want to understand her," he muttered, taking his head in his hands.

Shisui wrapped his arm around his shoulders. Itachi had been keeping that for himself for years. It was...unfortunate it came out at such a bad time.

"Give yourself some time to cool off, give her that too and talk it through like adults. You're friends, you'll make up soon."

Itachi stayed silent. Would they? After he almost broke her wrist? After making her cry?

After she tried to crawl away from him in fear of him hurting her even more?

He had made a mistake by being violent, it wasn't him.

He did not find sleep easily that night.

Apologies wouldn't be enough, he knew that, and Akane probably knew that too. There was something broken.

He just wanted to know why she knew and was left off the hook.

It wasn't just about Sasuke anymore, it wasn't just him being jealous of her because his brother talked to her, because he couldn't bring himself to face Sasuke in fear of what the latter would think of him. It wasn't just him taking it out on Akane because he didn't know how to deal with it.

It was way deeper than that. It was years of frustration caused by seeing her and Shisui having secrets between themselves, it was them seemingly understanding things he tried so hard to understand but never managed to. It was the awful feeling of betrayal he had ever since he saw her, knowing she knew he had been spying on his clan.

Itachi sunk his face in the thin pillow he had, Shisui snoring quietly above him.

He was angry at himself for losing his calm in such a way, making the situation so much worse. Akane's eyes...he would have handled anger, he would have understand disappointment. He would have loved hatred.

There was none. There was hurt, sure, but the thing that struck the most was shock. Or more like the lack of shock.

It was as if she knew he would see her like that. Like she expected him to see her like a threat and that she wasn't angry at that. No, instead she just...accepted it without trying to defend her case.

Could he blame her though?

He knew her status looked a lot like political exile and not just her running away back in Konoha, yet he didn't look back when he told her to go back.

But he looked straight into her eyes when he activated his sharingan and hurt her.

Itachi opened his eyes, a troubled look on his face.

On the spur of the moment, he looked at her memories, hoping to find some answers. He had not expected to see what he saw. It was short, but he recognized Akane, barely younger than now, crying over the body of a red-haired woman.

Something deep in his guts was telling him it was her mom, that it was Akiko-san. But she was in Konoha, pretty much alive, and the age just didn't match.

He had to be honest, before they left for the Land of Water, the silly thought of Akane being a seer crossed his mind. It was stupid, such things did not exist.

* * *

" _Alright, I know I'm a pain in your ass Itachi!" I grumbled, my eyes never leaving the fish roasting in the camp fire. Hoshigaki-san was looking for some more woods and Itachi was silently sitting next to me. When wasn't he silent anyway, that guy was a grave. "But you never answer! I swear if you just show you're listening to me I'll stop being annoying!" Itachi looked at me from the corner of his eyes, his face as cold and unreadable than usual._

" _Really?" I grinned and nodded. "You will stop talking so much?"_

" _Yeah!" He stared at me for a nodded curtly. "But always show you're listening!"_

" _Why do you care so much?" My grin fell and I looked up at the sky._

" _I've been alone for a long time, that's all. I'll answer you the rare times you talk too, promise."_

 _He gave me particular look, as if he was reading me. But he accepted, and in that moment I knew he wasn't as bad as people made him look._

This...after this, old Itachi actually kept his word, even if most of the time it was just his 'hn'. We became friends after, weird friends but friends nonetheless. Hoshigaki-san would comment a lot on it.

It was so long ago I was on the road with them, just following without knowing where we were going.

I raised my hands and opened them, palms in front of me. I started counting on my fingers. Old Itachi died when we were twenty-two, although he died a month before his birthday. I died age thirty-six, two months before I turned thirty-seven. I got here at the end of June, almost six years ago.

Wow.

Old Itachi died almost twenty-one years ago. The Fourth Shinobi War would turn twenty-one at the end of the year to me.

My children...were nineteen. They were adults.

I wondered how they were and what they looked like now, I let my thoughts wander to that corner of my mind that would make me melancholic.

I was broken out of my thoughts by the sound of someone knocking a glass on the floor. I left my room and took note of the piece of broken glass on the floor of my kitchen.

"Mangetsu you're alright?" I asked with caution, inching carefully to him. He didn't seem to hear me at first, his hands flat on my table to support himself. Once I avoided the glass, I placed my hand between his shoulder blades. "Mangetsu?"

He raised exhausted eyes to me. I narrowed my eyes at how pale he was.

We were all pale in Kiri, but he was paper white.

I slid my arm around his waist, placing his on my shoulders and took him to the couch. He fell in it in a growl of pain, a drop of sweat running in between his brow. I checked his temperature and removed my hand quickly.

He was burning.

I ran to my room and searched in my closet, pulling a thick brown blanket out of it. I wrapped it around my friend like a cocoon. Then, I grabbed a bowl in my kitchen cupboard, filled it with water and grabbed a clean napkin. Once I was kneeling next to Mangetsu, whose eyes were shut and his breathing ragged, I cooled the water down in the blink of an eye, damped the napkin in it and put it on his forehead.

"Since when do you feel like that?" I asked him sharply.

"Yes...yesterday," he stuttered. "Whole body...hurts..."

"I'll take you to the hospi..." He grabbed my left wrist weakly, the one Itachi injured. Dai put the bone back to its place, but it was still sore. "I'm not a medic and you know it!"

"Poi..." I bent over him, my ear just above his lips. "Poison Uzu," he whispered. I opened my eyes wide and straightened back.

Poison?

"Like...last time...worse..."

Poison was the only thing that could efficiently weakened an Hōzuki. It circulated and infected their bodies way quicker than normal.

"When Shisui saved you...you had been sabotaged to fail," I concluded with wide eyes.

It was from inside the village.

They feared Mangetsu's loyalty toward what was right and wrong in Kiri so much that they tried to erase the threat before he really became one. The poison had weakened him too much to fight properly and he almost got killed by Iwa, but Shisui arrived before.

It wasn't the case before.

"That's why you...accepted your past death easily, you knew." He nodded slowly.

Why was I even surprised?

No, I was shocked. Shocked Mangetsu kept that for himself.

"I'm taking you to..." He groaned and tried to get up. "Don't be stupid! We need Dai!"

"Too...risky..." A coughing fit started and I sat him up, biting the inside of my cheek at his reddened fingers.

I put my fingers in a cross and two shadow clones popped into existence behind me. One of them took Mangetsu's appearance. The real Mangetsu weakly glared at me when I put his arm on my shoulders and teleported to the hideout, in front of Dai who squeaked in surprise and fell on his ass in the infirmary. The papers he had in his hands flew when he dropped them and softly landed on the floor.

"What the..."

"No time, Mangetsu's been poisoned," I explained, words coming out of my mouth so fast and so nervously I doubted he understood me. He peeked at our friend and his face quickly morphed into concern. He jumped to his feet and led Mangetsu to a bed. I didn't follow them, instead I watched Dai proceeding to a medical exam, the shock of what was happening dawning on me.

"Uzu, I need eight major diagnosis seals and four minor ones," Dai ordered me sharply, breaking me out of my stupor. I went to the whitish medicine cabinet and opened the drawer so brutally I almost pulled it out completely. I grabbed papers and the pre-made ink and went to the table to draw them. I tried not to be too hasty, even if Mangetsu's labored breathing behind me was stressing me out.

Once they were dry, I took them and walked next to Mangetsu, in front of Dai.

"Vital organs and limbs," he said through gritted teeth.

Arms and legs, done easily.

Then brain, heart, lungs, liver, pancreas, kidneys. Each seal was made for a particular organ to make it faster.

The green chakra around Dai's hands disappears and one by one, he activated the seals. The ink on them started moving to write what was wrong with Mangetsu. However, from how the medic's face turned as white as Mangetsu's hair, my heart missed a beat.

I understood the basic of medical mumbo-jumbo, but it wasn't my specialization, I didn't understand everything.

I knew the situation was bad though.

"Bring me Karin Uzu." I didn't move, my limbs frozen in place. "NOW!"

I nodded briskly and ran out of the room. I didn't even feel the cold and humid floor under my bare feet.

Where could she be?

I opened many door to many rooms. People looked at me as if I was crazy but I didn't care. In my rush, I slipped and fell face first on the floor. I groaned at my own clumsiness.

"What are you doing?" I raised my head to find Fugaku-san looking down on me, his arms crossed over his chest and face as serious as ever.

"Karin, I need to find Karin. Naruto's age, red hair," I explained, getting up as fast as I could.

"Meeting room." I blinked at him and didn't even take the time to thank him that I was running the way I was coming from. I was sure I ran past Itachi and Shisui at some point, but I didn't have the time.

"KARIN!" I yelled, opening the door and slamming it in the wall. Karin, thanks God she was here, Haku and Zabuza-san stared at me strangely.

"What?" She yelped when I grabbed her shoulders, my panicked eyes begging her already.

"Mangetsu was poisoned, Dai...Dai asked me to get you." She paled immediately when she understood what I wanted, but her eyes went wide when I said Dai's name.

"He told you to get me?" I nodded and didn't react at the new found resolution in her eyes. "Where?"

"Infirmary." She left in a flash of red. I dropped on my knees and Haku ran to me.

"Uzu-nee, is he..." I placed my hand on my mouth and shut my eyes close. I couldn't...he couldn't die when he had two, almost three more years! He couldn't, he...he said he'd take the hat one day!

The only thing my brain registered was how tightly I hugged Haku back when his arms were around me.

I knew there would be casualties.

But please, please leave my best friend so that he could live his life.

Take me instead, I don't care I've already lived, but spare him.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading! Please review so that I know you liked it :) Thanks to kankananime123, Guest, and ArrowlessCompass for the reviews! Yeah, Itachi's jealous because you know, Sasuke, but not only and :). As for her children, who knows, but everything is planned in my head until the Shippuden era. The whole Ushio thing will be explained here and there, but I'll make a dedicated Arc in Shippuden.**

 **Also, wanna hear something funny? I wrote like seven pages of this chapter and finished it on Sunday. I was at my parents, so I removed my flash drive from my laptop. Fastforward to Monday afternoon. I put it in, andd BAM! I couldn't open it, it asked me a good old FORMATTING! This morning, the software I found on the internet to try to get my files back was finally done after three days, just to tell me it didn't find anything. I've been writing fanfiction since I was in middle-school and I'm pretty sure I've just lost six years of writing.**

 **Yeah, I was kind of frustrated and angry. But I rewrote the chapter, differentely but with the same conclusion with Itachi. If you have tips on that kind of things, would you please help me?**

 **Alright, rant is done!**

 **Bye!**


	47. Kiri Battle Arc: Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 13**

 **Shisui: 22**

 **Kakashi: 27**

* * *

"This is madness!" I roared, slamming my hands on the table. Sensei stared at me sternly, her lips firmly set in a thin line. Dai couldn't look up from his laps. Mangetsu was struggling to stay awake, his skin back to his usual color but I could almost spot the purple veins in his neck.

We were in the reunion room, from where sensei kicked everyone out to give us privacy. I was fuming, my cheeks flushed in anger and my eyes were glaring daggers at the brown-haired woman in front of me. Her calm demeanor was just pissing me off even more.

They wanted me to get Suigetsu out of Kiri as fast as possible, normal considering it was probably the running water in Kiri that was contaminated just enough for them to be poisoned but not enough for us regular people to feel anything.

Once that was done, we were supposed to proceed with the plan as if nothing happened when Mangetsu was still poisoned even with the help of Karin! He wouldn't survive!

"I can steal the swords on my own, he can stay here!" I yelled. "Dai said he needed time to figure something out!"

"Uzu..." the medic started but he stopped when his sister raised a hand.

"It seems there is a misunderstanding, it's not Dai or the situation that do not give us time. Mangetsu doesn't have time." I blinked and stole a glance at my best friend, who was trying to make himself invisible. "You're needed for the sealing after the attack, I can't send you al..."

"So what, my life over his? That's what you're saying?" I interrupted her bitterly. "If there is someone between us who could not come back it's me and you all know it."

"Maybe," sensei agreed and I gulped slightly, not expecting such a quick and bland answer from her, "but you're needed for the sealing and for the fight and you know it." I clicked my tongue and went to Mangetsu in the blink of an eye to help him when he tried to get up.

"Calm down Uzu," he mumbled to me, obviously focusing on staying stable on his legs. I averted my eyes on the floor. "There's a price to pay to take our village back."

"I'll call back every team from Konoha, they'll go together to escort the last civilians. Make sure to be ready, because in two-week time, everything will be over."

I didn't like that one bit but kept my mouth shut. I would lose.

Suigetsu didn't question it when I got him out of Kiri, and my whole team ended up defecting the village. Yagura wasn't happy, stared for a long time at me with distrust but my face stayed cold and blank. He asked where was Mangetsu, I told him he was feeling under the weather.

I didn't see anything that would make me say he was happy with the situation. Just...emptiness. In the back of my mind, I wondered if Yagura was watching, was still there or if he just disappeared for good.

A week passed. I barely slept or anything, my stomach kept aching because of the stress of Mangetsu's health, which was deteriorating and it scared and frustrated the shit out of me.

I couldn't do anything but watch him die. Die a second time when I…

It should be me!

"Is Mangetsu still sick?" Sasuke asked me, ignorant that my best friend was basically a dead-man walking. Nobody knew except us that he was still poisoned, to keep a semblance of calm in the constant buzzing of the hideout. I gave no answer and Sasuke frowned. "Akane?"

"You call me that more and more," I noticed dully. He stared at me, his fists on his hips and I sighed. "It's nothing, I'm just a kinda scared that's all."

"Hn." My head fell back against the wall. "Did nii-san talk to you?"

"No, I don't have time for him anyway, he thinks what he wants." He seemed taken back at my lack of caring toward Itachi. "He had a logic reaction, I can't blame him or be mad at him when I acted as if I was oblivious for years."

"Hn."

"Did you receive your orders?" He looked away with frustration.

"I got better training here but they still put me with Team 7. Father insisted and Jiraya-sama accepted and insisted to Mei-san. That's what she told me."

"Technically, you're under her orders and under our wing until you set foot in Konoha again and you respond to your action. However, I understand Fug..." We were interrupted by Naruto slamming the door in the wall with a big grin, Sakura and Kakashi behind him.

"Yo!" He walked energetically to us and grinned at Sasuke. Naruto figured quickly that Sasuke needed to know he was still welcomed before everything else and tried his best. Sasuke kept ignoring him, or anyone from Konoha really. He was fine with me and the people I was close to in Kiri, he immediately knew Kiri shinobi stopped judging others for their actions a long time ago.

It was what he needed. A place to rest his mind from what he discovered, where he wouldn't be judged over his actions.

"Nee-chan you're alright? You look tired!" Naruto yelled and I smiled at him, even if the smile didn't reach my eyes.

"I could be better, I admit." Naruto looked at his female teammate, who returned his gaze and finally made a step toward me. "There's no need, I don't react well with medical chakra except for Dai's, plus Sakura's scared of me." She flushed a deep red.

"I...I'm not!"

"Heh? But nee-chan's not scar..." She punched Naruto in the wall and froze right after. I chuckled and got up, walked up to Sakura and placed my hands on her shoulders. She was extremely tense.

"I'm sure being his teammate can be exhausting knowing my cousin, but please do try to work on your patience, it will be useful for when you have guarding missions and such or just as a medic." She nodded slowly.

I totally didn't think of the Daimyō's daughter and her annoying voice, her annoying blond _pigtails…_

Urgh.

"Akane, a word please?" I deadpanned at Kakashi and followed him, my hands in my pockets.

"See you kids!"

"We're not kids!" Naruto denied loudly.

We walked in the hallway for a while, until Kakashi stopped in a dead end, away from any eavesdropper.

"What do you want?"

"I know you're in stressful situation, but try to relax a little, would you?" I rolled my eyes. I usually didn't lash out on Kakashi, I just didn't because he was still a brotherly figure to me.

"It's just...hard." I leaned against the damped wall behind me. "I...a shinobi who abandons their mission is trash, but a shinobi who abandons their comrades is even worse than trash, right? But...but if you choose your friend over the mission but still fail? Then wh..." I stopped mid-sentence when he put his hand in my hair.

"We face tough choices, that's a fact Akane," he said in a serious tone, "but I don't think someone who try to save those they care about should ever be blamed for it."

"Oji-chan used to say that emotions was what made a difference between a shinobi and a weapon, sensei always told me the same thing. From the moment you still feel then you...Kakashi, I love what I can do as a kunoichi but..."

"But you still despise the system, I know. It's unfair."

"Sometimes it's even unfair in its own unfairness."

But I…

I really didn't want Mangetsu to die.

* * *

"Your seal is perfect Uzu," Mangetsu told me, stretching out. I offered him a small smile as I sealed a dozen of marked kunai in a scroll. "So, we go, steal and leave to the north. You have to make it back, I'll buy you time."

"Hum..."

"Hey." He turned me to him to make me look at him. "Look, I know that...I know I don't react how you'd like me to toward the situation, I know you hate it but...you're my best friend Uzu, you have to make it out alive. If you die there...you won't rest, your case is different than anyone else. Promise me this."

"What?"

"That you'll break your seal before you die, so when you die we'll see each other again. And...and keep an eye on Suigetsu for me too." I stared at him in the eyes. I didn't want him to die, I didn't want to mess everything up but I didn't want to lose him either.

"I promise," I whispered softly, my gaze on the floor. "I promise." He shot me a toothy grin and took me in his arms. Only then did I realize the shaking of his body, the hidden fear coming from him.

I hugged him back in silence, trying to make him understand I would be there for the end, that everything would be okay after he…

I didn't want to lose him again.

At my place, I took a scroll of the things I found in Uzushio. I opened the drawer of my desk and grazed the metal of my first forehead protector from my fingertips. The scratch was a lot more visible than I remembered it to be. Even when sensei gave it back to me three years ago I had not noticed how deep it actually was.

" _Sh..." I started but I closed my eyes in fear at the kunai coming straight for my head. I starting bending back, yet the weapon dug in my forehead protector, making it fall in the grass. I fell on my ass and glared hatefully at the person in front of me, just to break in a cold sweat when I recognized Yagura-sama._

" _You've reached the border this time. Your friends are good after all." I paled even more. He knew about Dai and Mangetsu, he knew they helped me and now he was going to kill them. "I'll punish you later for..."_

 _I roared, the anger and hatred I had for him coming to the surface. I grabbed the kunai and ran to him. His gaze was bored and he dodged my blow halfheartedly. It angered me even more. I started making seals and it was the moment he chose to punch me in the jaw. I barely felt blood dripping from my mouth that he used his club to hit me violently in the stomach. I spat blood and he hit the side of my left knee with his club, the bone snapping in a chilling sound._

 _I screamed and started falling, but he grabbed me by the neck, hard enough to hurt me and keep me in place, not enough to strangle me._

" _I'll make sure it's the last time your childish attempts at leaving. You'll never leave Kiri except if you die, trust me on that."_

" _I'll leave...you hear me, I'll leave! Your village and what...what you're doing to it! It's wrong! You're a heartless monster Karatachi Yagura, and I'll make sure to burn Kiri to ashes one day! I'LL MAKE YOU REGRET THE DAY YOU TOOK THAT STUPID HAT YOU STUPID SHINOBI!" He moved his face closer to mine, a provoking smirk on his lips but his eyes as cold as ice._

" _I'd like to see you fail at the too Uzumaki." He dropped me._

 _I whimpered when my broken knee landed in the grass. I raised my eyes to him. He barely looked away and turn his foot by an inch that I found strength back, got up on my feet and punched him square in the jaw. There wasn't a sound for a moment and slowly, he wiped the blood from the corner of his lips. He stared at it for a moment._

" _Ha...I finally hit you...asshole..." Furious pink eyes looked at me and I was hit in the abdomen. I flew in a rock behind me and it broke a little and I landed in it._

 _The pain made me faint._

I closed the drawer.

Don't you worry twelve year-old me, I would make pay the _real_ culprit.

It was time to burn the current Kiri to the ground.

* * *

"You're silent today Naruto," Sakura noticed. The young Uzumaki was sitting on a bed, staring into space.

"I have a bad feeling, that's all."

"A bad...bad feeling?" Hinata repeated, getting closer with her team. Team 10 was next to them, Shikamaru napping on another bed.

"Yeah, almost...I just feel something is going to go terribly wrong." His hands were shaking on his knees. "I just can't shake it."

"This whole situation is strange," Neji intervened calmly from their corner of the room. "The attack is getting closer and people here are stressed, but there's something more. Also, the genin teams weren't supposed to find themselves here all at the same time to evacuate to civilians. Something happened and it changed the speed of action."

"I agree with Neji on this," Shikamaru spoke up. He yawned and sat up, rubbing his eyes. "And anyway, we were on the verge of war three ago, now we're helping them. There's something we haven't been told and it's the exact reason why Konoha accepted to help. That place is a drag."

"You're saying that because we're stuck underground and you can't watch clouds!" Ino snapped at him.

"Yeah right."

"What else is weird then Shikamaru?" Shino asked him. The Nara raised his finger.

"Sasuke."

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura and Ino repeated.

"The guy's back to his usual state!" Kiba reminded him, Akamaru barking in approbation.

"Exactly. He's back to his usual state here, but he left Konoha on his own free will to go with a shinobi who invaded our village and killed the Hokage. Why would he be fine here? Akane-sen...Akane-san may be here and knows Sasuke since he was a kid, but even if she's related to Naruto there's something else that made him calm down that drastically. What though? I don't know, but I bet Sasuke knows a lot more about the situation than any of us."

"Like the reason why Konoha accepted to help the Resistance and Kiri in general, he knows Konoha's interests in the situation," Neji continued sternly.

"It has to have something to do with the Uchiha clan. Why? Because the Hokage sent four of them and only two other shinobi from Konoha."

"Hey! Don't accuse them of anything without knowing! Itachi-nii and Shisui-nii wouldn't..." Naruto started as he got up abruptly with an angry scowl.

"You're right Naruto," Sakura agreed quietly, "but other than them, Izumi-san and Sasuke-kun's parents...the Uchiha are not the most welcoming people in the village. Sometimes I hear people say things about them."

"People say things about me too and I'm not mean!"

"I don't think it's the same Naruto-kun."

"Lee is right, the Uchiha clan does not have a great reputation, in particular since the Kyuubi's attack," the oldest Hyuuga said. He stole a glance at his cousin, who seemed to be thoughtful. "Hinata-sama?"

"It's hum...I don't...I don't think the Uch...Uchihas are our enemies but...but something happened...years ago and then...then there were changes...I heard Father talk abo...about it once."

"So what!?" Naruto roared. "They're not our enemies!"

"We never said that, and it's not the real subject. You guys are genin and I'm barely a chuunin, yet we were sent on a mission that has high risks politically, diplomatically and economically speaking. In the worst case scenario, the Resistance loses and we're at war with Kiri," Shikamaru explained seriously. "We're not that useful yet, we're pretty much disposable and because we're rookies, we're not told anything on the reasons behind Konoha's actions. It's not that I don't trust our Hokage, but we're involved in a foreign hidden village politics and I don't like going there blindfolded. That, and I'm sure there is something we haven't been told about the Mizukage. He's a tyrant but people are scared of him because of something else too."

"What do you suggest then Shikamaru?" Chouji asked him as he opened his second bag of chips.

"We're limited in what we can do after all," Tenten added.

"I know, but if I die I want to know why. Do we all agree on that?" He only got nods in response. "Fine. Then as a chuunin, I'll try to learn more on my side. You, keep your ears and eyes open. Naruto, Sakura." The two perked up at their name. "Do you think you could try to get Sasuke to talk?"

"Hard to say, he's been ignoring us since we're here," Sakura told him.

"But we'll do it dattebayo!"

"Good, then mission: No Risking Lives Without Intel, starts."

* * *

I caught the anbu when I knocked him out and hid him behind the wall. Mangetsu took care of the other one and I executed a series of hand seals. Once the ram one was done, I placed my hand a centimeter from the iron door. A blue wave escaped from my hand and different seals appeared all around us. I looked all around us.

"Around thirty, I think they're directly linked to the security system and the alarm."

"Chakra detector, movement detector for inside the room." I made two clone who each went to a wall by my side. Five minutes later, all the seals were deactivated.

"Those chakra concealing seals of yours are really good Uzu," Mangetsu complimented as I took a senbon in my back pouch. I placed a microscopic explosive seal on the tip and placed in the lock.

Hey, by trying to push my Hiraishin markers from my kunai to another place, I ended up managing to do it with explosive seals! Small one for now, but still.

I heard the satisfying sound of the lock breaking.

"Infiltration indeed," I bragged with a smirk to my best friend as I opened the door silently.

"Team Unagi." We high-fived each other, still without a noise, and I looked around the room. I had never really been there before, Mangetsu was more used to it as he couldn't just carry all of the swords with him ever since he almost died against Iwa. "There are wires connected to other seals and hidden switch on the floor. Let me handle this, use the Hiraishin once I'm at the swords." I nodded and watched him liquefy himself and moved toward the big and golden cupboard, avoiding wires and switches.

My left eye twitched when he had to wait for a moment to have his breathing back to normal. I teleported. I stole a glance at him from the corner of my eyes, but he ignored me, frustration written all over his face and in his whole demeanor.

I deactivated the locking seals on the cupboard and opened it, three of the seven swords on display. I sealed them quickly in a scroll and put it in my back pouch. We exited the room the same way we reached the swords and left the building, my heart pounding heavily in my chest.

The building was in the mountains and the path to go was extremely steep. It was not imposing, or heavily guarded. The spot wasn't known by everyone anyway, except the highest-ranked shinobi. It was just a small bungalow from the outside, built with dull gray stones. It was connected to the mountain once inside, but it was just for storage for the swords.

Once we were done with the steep rocky path, we stopped to look at the village a few kilometers from us, the few night lights there were merely blurry yellowish spots in the mist.

Then, the deafening and high-pitched alarm started ringing and we could hear people starting screaming in fear.

'Drag them to the north and when you'll be twenty kilometers from the village, Mangetsu will stay back and Akane will come back,' sensei said.

I bit my bottom lip at the implication of such an order, of the lack of emotion in her voice when she told us that.

We started running to the north, away from the hideout. The thick mist of the night was making it harder for us to see. The sound of our feet hitting the damped and slippery dirt was all I was focusing on, the voices calling for the traitors to stop and surrender just a mere background noise to my ears. The blood was warming up my cheeks and my ears, cold sweat ran down my spine and mud was slowly settling between and on my toes.

Stupid opened shoes.

I honestly had no idea how long we had been running for, the mist wasn't giving us any indication of a possible change of scenery. However, the voices were getting closer and closer. At first I thought it was them who were faster than anticipated, but I realized it was us who were getting slower.

Mangetsu couldn't keep up and unconsciously, I was adjusting my speed to his.

"Uzu, I think...sensei overestimated me. Twenty kilometers will be here, period."

"Don't be stupid," I hissed at him. "A little bit mo..." He cut me off by using the Hiding in the Mist Technique. I glared at him in the denser mist. I followed him when he jumped on a tree branch.

"Go now, I'll hold them back." I didn't budge and tried to spot the coming shinobi. "Uzu, go! Now!"

"Sorry, but no."

"What...Uzu it's not the plan!"

"Change of plan then," I told him simply, his arm on my shoulders and mine around his waist. I jumped to another tree with him, who by now was too weak to fight back. The north we were heading to turned into the east coast, the further away from the hideout in the western swamps.

"Uzu!" he tried to reason me, the wind lashing our faces. "You're gonna ruin the whole mis..."

"Shut up idiot! You're all full of shit!" I snapped at him in cold anger. "I know you're dead Mangetsu, I know, but there's letting you be killed by them and at least trying to do something! I don't give a flying fuck about shinobi honor, I won't leave you behind!"

"Akane," he whispered and I clenched my jaw at the use of my first name, "don't jeopardize everything, please."

"I won't."

"You don't know what you're doing."

"I'm not losing you a second time without trying to save you, it's the end of the discussion."

"You're more needed than me!"

"I'm sick of hearing that!"

Mangetsu started fidgeting as we were between two trees. I scowled and tried my best to keep my balance, but my foot grazed the branch and we fell. Fast, too fast and I grunted in pain when I landed face first in the grass, pain erupting everywhere in my body. Mangetsu reformed himself, gasping for air.

"Now...now go idiot."

"Shut up! I told you I had this! I..." He stopped and coughed blood. He dropped on his knees and in an adrenaline rush, I jumped on my feet and ran to him. "Stop talking and let me..."

"No, you can't die, not here, not now." I blinked sheepishly at him. "You...you'll do big things someday, I know it, Dai and sensei know it...you're...important, more than you...think..." I felt a tear running down my cheek and he smiled weakly. "Shinobi don't cry."

"But human do, so screw that shinobi bullshit," I added quietly and snorted. I… "You...you said you'd be the Rokudaime...that I'd be you...right-hand woman, don't break that promise!"

"Sorry Akane...but it seems that..." He fell backward and I caught him. "Seems like...I can't keep it after all."

"Shut up, you...you can and you will...don't leave us Mangetsu, we need you..." He was struggling to keep his eyes open. "Don't go, not yet!"

"Sorry, but I...you guys should...find what the poison is...for the future..."

"Mangetsu!"

"I...I can't fight it anymore..." I opened my eyes so wide it hurt me. The seal drawn on the palm on his hand, to boost him and make him able to move normally, was gone. His...his purple eyes lost their shine totally and were now glassy.

"Man...Mangetsu?" I called him and shook him, but nothing. There was nothing anymore.

My best friend wasn't there anymore, just a warm body.

Just his corpse.

Just...his corpse.

I bought him twenty minutes. Only twenty minutes.

And now he...he was…

"Mangetsu?" No answer. I took multiple shaky breath and closed his eyes. I grabbed an empty scroll and sealed...sealed his body in it. I cut open my thumb with a kunai and summoned Uma. I put the scroll, writing numbly his name on it with my blood, and put in in one of his pouch, placing the scroll with the swords in it too.

There were footsteps near me. I teleported Uma to the hideout and a second later, Yagura was in front of me.

"I knew you were a mole, Mei put these stupid nonsensical ideas in your head again. You're such a disappointment, you can't even save your friend."

"How am I supposed to destroy a poison?" I replied blandly, empty eyes not meeting his.

"You will be sent in a cell down the ANBU headquarters and you will tell us everything you know about this pathetic little movement you're a part of." I smirked.

"If it's pathetic, why do you care so much? Maybe you're scared of the sparks that turned into fire under your nose?"

I spat blood when he hit me with his club in the cheek.

A water whip, an oinin technique, was around me, and then electricity ran through my body. I bit my tongue until I bled to keep my screams of pain from coming out, even if I could smell my burned flesh in the air.

I was breathing heavily, laying on the ground, but my eyes were set of Yagura. He bent toward me, took my forehead protector and knocked me out with his club.

Compromised.

I was compromised because I tried to help him.

Yet, I didn't mind.

* * *

"That's...that's..." Dai stuttered, staring at the scroll his sister was clenching in her hand with horror. "What...Uzu's not...Uma what happened!?" The small wolf took a step back and whimpered.

"There were multiple hostile presences around them, she didn't say anything and sent me here but Akane...her eyes were colder than usual."

"She disobeyed my order," Mei muttered under her breath, placing delicately the body scroll on the table. "I knew she would try to save him in the end, she's terrible at following orders when she thinks she has another solution."

"So what now Aneki? Mang...Mangetsu's dead, Uzu's compromised. She'll be tortured to death, Yagura won't spare her another time."

" _Yagura...he told me something sensei, something about the Uchiha."_

" _What was is?" Akane sighed and shoved her hands in her pockets, her eyes staring into space._

" _He said that...he said that he had his eyes set on me. He said he was testing me and my reactions. I'm not sure if I want to know why."_

"I wouldn't be so sure about that if I were you." Without letting her sibling speak, she turned to the silent Swordsman in the room. "Chōjūrō, bring me Akane's team and Sasuke."

"Y...yes!" He left the room in the blink of an eye.

"Aneki, why Sasuke?"

"He knows too much about the situation to be left in the dark. Dai, please take care of the body, I need to have a word with Jiraya-sama."

Akane's team arrived a second after she came back in the meeting room with Jiraya. The two had long faces. Sasuke and Haku were wondering why was the atmosphere was so tense, but Suigetsu broke the silence, his voice devoid of any emotion.

"He's dead, isn't he?" Mei nodded curtly. "Where's Uzu then?"

"Compromised, she decided to change their destination."

"Who's dead Mei-san?" Haku asked her, taking a step toward her. "What happened?"

"Mangetsu is dead, Dai is taking care of the body as we are speaking." Sasuke clenched his fists on his side and Haku frowned deeply. "Their mission was supposed to be the signal for the attack, and even if technically it's a success as Akane sent us the swords, she was compromised. Jiraya-sama and I are discussing on what to do now, but..."

"Can you send a team to help her?" Haku asked her once again, more hastily this time, more nervously.

"No. She already knows what to do in this scenario, I can't allow us to worry about her case, she brought this upon herself." Sasuke glared at her.

"How can you..."

"Sasuke-kun, not a word. It's a village against one individual, there's no real choice to make. Plus, I just said she knew what to do. She's very much capable of freeing herself. End of discussion. Haku, please tell Zabuza of the situation."

They left the room in dead silence. Haku parted ways with them quickly, and only Suigetsu and Sasuke were left. Out of sudden, the Kiri shinobi stopped in his tracks.

"I'm going." Sasuke stopped, his hands deep in the pockets of his black pants, and raised a brow at Suigetsu. "She's most likely in the ANBU HQ, in the torture cells or around. I'm going."

"You're blatantly disobeying her orders?"

"My brother's dead Sasuke, her orders aren't my biggest preoccupation right now," he replied coldly, eyes filled with bloodlust.

"Hn." He watched Suigetsu starting leaving. "We should get Karin though, she'll pinpoint her position better than us."

"You're coming?"

"Better that than a genin job."

* * *

"Isn't that so enjoyable, Uzumaki?" Kitsu the asshole asked me rhetorically, a cruel smirk on his lips. "You're right where you belong after your what your father did."

"Actually, it would be what he didn't do. Staying here." His features became enraged quickly and he took steps toward me.

"I can't wait to hear you scream bitch." I stayed quiet, opting for gesturing for him to get closer with my head. He did, like the idiot he was. He lowered his head toward me and I headbutted him.

He moved back, his hands going to his face. But before he could, I leaped forward, dragging the chair I was tied to with me, and I bit on his middle finger. He screamed as I used my two shark teeth to rip his flesh apart, my taste buds only feeling the taste of iron from the blood in my mouth.

It was meaty, his finger, and as I reached the bone, people dragged me backward. Kitsu screamed louder.

Oh, was it the joint?

I bit sharply, harder than before, and I was away from him, his finger still between my teeth. I grinned at him, his blood pouring freely from my mouth to my lap and my jaw sore from the effort. I spat the finger on the floor. The blood smearing on my lips, my chin and my neck made me look like a wild animal, but I couldn't care less.

I couldn't care less about the look of sheer terror on his face toward my bloody grin and teeth.

I knew what I was in for.

I would make them pay by using the same methods than them then.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to kankananime123 and Riveria for the reviews!**

 **Bye!**


	48. Kiri Battle Arc: Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 13**

 **Shisui: 22**

 **Kakashi: 27**

* * *

"I don't like it, I don't like it Itachi. Kunoichi can be tortured in more ways than us and...what if they rape...Oh God." Shisui sat down in front of his cousin, his head in his hands. He was nervously tapping his right foot against the floor. "Oh God it can't happen to her, I need to..."

"You can't go Shisui."

"So what, we just wait until we make our move hoping she'll get out of here on her own!? It's pure Bloody Mist shinobi in Kiri now, and she's alone against them!"

"I know, but if we move we'll mess everything up, including Kiri and Konoha potential alliance." Shisui gritted his teeth together, under Itachi's preoccupied gaze.

"Then what, we wait?"

"We wait," Itachi confirmed. Shisui sighed in defeat and the youngest of the two got up. "I'll go and stretch my legs a little." His cousin waved him off.

He did not go very far. Itachi found himself in a dead-end and punched the wall, hard enough for his knuckles to break the stone.

He wasn't sure what was the worst: that Akane had been compromised and was now being most likely tortured, or that she tried to save her friend's life and failed, just becoming a witness of his death. He could only hope she would not do anything too reckless on her own.

He could only hope he would have the opportunity to apologize.

"Are you serious?" He heard a female voice said in the hallway. He would have left her and the person she was speaking to alone if it wasn't for his brother's voice responding.

"Yeah, it's not Utakata guarding, I put them in a genjutsu, we put the chakra concealing seals on and follow Suigetsu."

"But..."

"Come on Karin, you're the only one who can guide us and fix us up in case!" Suigetsu cut her off. Itachi heard like a splash of water.

"It's not the problem moron, but Sasuke coming too could mess up the relationship between Kiri and Konoha!"

"I'm still considered as having defected," Sasuke countered coldly and Itachi pinched the bridge of his nose. He was right, and being in a different country made his actions in no way Konoha's.

"Yes but...your family..."

"I don't care, I have a debt to pay to Akane." He seemed to clip something and Itachi leaned a little bit to have a look. He still was not used to his brother wearing Kiri-nin clothes, but now he had a sword firmly tied to his back, clipped around his abdomen. The redhead sighed in defeat.

"I guess it would be safer for me to go with you…"

"Yo Sasuke!" Naruto ran to them, Sakura behind him. His brother opened his eyes wider by a millimeter and spun around to glare at his teammates. "So we were wondering..."

"Get out of here loser." Naruto's smile twitched and his face morphed into anger. He pointed an accusing finger at Sasuke.

"You! I've been trying for days to talk to you and you keep pushing me away! Stop being such an arrogant asshole for once in your life!"

"Hn."

"Why you..." Sakura hold Naruto back, his hands trying desperately to strangle Sasuke, who had closed his eyes and wasn't even facing them anymore.

"Sasuke, if you're still coming we have to go now," Suigetsu pipped up, his arms crossed over his chest. Sasuke gazed at him from the corner of his eyes and nodded.

"Nobody's allowed out of here until we're deployed!" Sakura reminded them with concern, probably over his brother. "You're not..."

"Disobeying orders? Yeah," the young swordsman replied. Naruto seemed to calm down and pursed his lips.

"Something happened, right?" he guessed quietly. Sasuke set his eyes on him. "My feeling was right after all, something went wrong."

"You don't know?" Karin asked them.

"Konoha genin aren't told anything, orders from Konoha higher-ups. They're more protected than us," Suigetsu explained plainly. "Mei-san's kinda uncomfortable about that actually, they're still risking their lives after all." Sasuke frowned deeply.

"That's why you two have been so clingy recently? You thought I knew more?"

"Shikamaru seems to think so, and you've been here for longer than us too," Sakura told him.

"I know more, but what makes you think I would have told you?"

"Because the Mizukage took nee-chan," Naruto answered straight away. He stared at Sasuke for a couple of seconds and the latter sighed.

"Konoha is helping because otherwise they would be the bad guys."

"What?" Sakura muttered and Sasuke glared at the floor.

"The Mizukage has been controlled for the past ten years or something like that."

"And that Shisui guys confirmed what was thought, it's an Uchiha, or at least the Sharingan," Suigetsu finished, shocking the two genin.

"If Konoha had not taken position, then they would have been accused of trying to overthrow a country," Sakura whispered with horror.

"So...bad?"

"War Naruto, it would have been war, and not just with Kiri, other nations could have used the opportunity to..."

"Accuse Konoha of manipulation, maybe falsifying some pacts made after the last war," Sasuke continued after his medic teammate. Itachi smiled a little to himself, even with the seriousness of the situation. His brother understood politics quickly.

"But if it's not a shinobi from the Leaf, then who Sasuke-kun?"

"Good question, nee-san thinks it's someone who supposedly died during the Third War because all of the bodies couldn't be retrieved." True, Shisui's brother was written on the Memorial Stone, but no body was found. "Maybe Konoha's actions was against what they fought for and they used Kiri geographical location to control it as they wished to put the blame on Konoha after." Sasuke congratulated himself in his mind. Sakura was the one with the quick thinking when it came to excuses, but the words flew out of his mouth smoothly and it was believable.

"Where are you three going then?" Naruto asked them. "What happened?"

"The mission that would be a signal for us to attack half failed, they don't know if they should keep going with the plan or find a new one." Sakura and Naruto blinked confusingly at Suigetsu. "My brother died, Uzu has been compromised." In Naruto's mind, his sister's face associated itself to the nickname she had in Kiri faster than usual and he opened his eyes as wide as he could.

"Where...where is she?"

"Apparently in the ANBU headquarters, they have cells underground and diverse torture devices, Uzu-nee is most likely being tortured for information about the..."

"Uzu-nee?" Naruto repeated hollowly. Karin blushed a little.

"I'm...hum, I'm also an Uzumaki Naruto-san." The blond stared at her in a new light.

"Oh, really?" he whispered softly.

"She's the sensor to find her, I'm the guide in Kiri and Sasuke's getting us in with his genjutsu." Itachi had been right to teach him at least some low-level genjutsu with the Sharingan.

"I'm coming too," Naruto decided, determination burning in his eyes.

"What? Naruto, we can't, we don't..."

"I don't care! Kakashi-sensei said that a shinobi who abandons their mission is trash, but that a shinobi who abandons their friends is worse than trash! I'm not standing there while my sister is being tortured!" Sasuke smirked, and all eyes were on Sakura.

"Don't come if you don't want to and if you come don't screw everything up, but in any case nobody can know," Suigetsu warned her in a low voice. Sakura gulped and looked at Naruto, and then at Sasuke.

"You're crazy, you know that?"

"Hn."

"So you're coming!?"

"We're going to get killed for that," she whined under her breath, shaking her head at the others' victorious smirks. "I can't believe we're just going to go in Kiri like that."

From his spot, Itachi heard them leaving toward the exit. His arms were crossed over his torso and the back of his head was leaning against the wall behind him. His eyes were half closed and staring at the dark and humid ceiling.

"Worse than trash..." he repeated for himself.

It stung him deep in his guilt. Akane knew about that phrase, he was sure of it. Did it mean she thought he was worse than trash? Nothing else than a shinobi who placed the mission above the life of one of his friend?

He didn't want her to die.

But he would place Konoha before her. He already had actually. He had hated it and despised himself for doing so, but he still did.

Did she know he hated doing it?

She would not care though, his acts would speak louder than his thoughts.

One thing was sure, she could not die here. Not there, not now, not like that.

Just like that, even if he knew what the kids were about to do, fully aware of all the possible consequences possible, he let them go.

He needed to make sure they would attack very soon.

* * *

"Excuse-me," Haku started, standing next to Chōjūrō, at the door of what was used as the Konoha Eleven room. "Have you seen Suigetsu and Sasuke-kun? We have been looking everywhere for them but it seems like they vanished."

"Sorry but no, actually have you seen Sakura and Naruto?" Shikamaru retorted and he took his chin between his forefinger and his thumb at the two chuunin shaking their head 'no'. "Strange, they were supposed to be here ten minutes ago already."

"I see," Haku whispered to himself. Then he turned to his teammate. "I would have asked Karin to sense them but she's nowhere to be found either."

"Do you think they're doing something together?"

"It's...oh no." Haku found himself with too many pair of eyes on him. "They wouldn't...Suigetsu wouldn't have dragged them out, right?" Chōjūrō opened his eyes wide.

"I...I mean he knows the situation is..."

"Yes, but it's his brother nonetheless. Sasuke-kun would have followed him if he could get in Kiri, and..."

"And Karin would lead them," the blue-haired boy finished for his friend. They shared a worried glance and looked at the Nara when he cleared his throat.

"Why would they go in Kiri? It's against the orders." They kept their mouth shut. "Look, we're going in your fight blindly without even knowing why Konoha is interested in helping you out. If something happened and if it made our friends do something, then you need to tell us."

Haku pursed his lips. If Naruto knew about Uzu, then he would have gone in Kiri willingly. However, it was dangerous, too dangerous and Suigetsu knew it, he was guided by anger and sadness right now and he would be dragging too many people down with him. He must have had gotten Karin as their sensor, and Sasuke just went along to help Uzu. Sakura and Naruto…

"Sasuke-kun has been avoiding them like the plague and he succeeded in that, it just doesn't make sense for him to tell them."

"But he said they were more clingy than usual, didn't he?" Chōjūrō suggested. "Maybe he was tired of it and told them?"

"Maybe...it's weird too." Haku's eyes found Shikamaru's and went as cold as ice. "An information for an information Nara-san. You must know why they were so clingy."

"I do."

"Shikamaru!" Ino tried to reason him, but he raised his hand to stop her.

"No Ino, Sakura and Naruto are nowhere to be found and most likely out of the base. We're on the same boat." He took a deep breath. "We have been trying to know why we were here, why we were helping you. Sasuke knows more than us, I asked Sakura and Naruto to make him talk."

"Right, you're not told anything..." Chōjūrō whispered with a frown.

"Sasuke must have told them then," Haku stated with a blank face, "but he also must have told them that the last mission that happened cost Mangetsu-san's life and that Uzu-nee was compromised and now imprisoned."

There was not a sound in the room. The information slowly sank in.

"Hinata, Neji, scan the base with your Byakugan," Shikamaru ordered them.

"Understood," they answered together. Soon, veins appeared on their faces. "Byakugan!" Everybody stared at them for long seconds and Neji stopped, shaking his head. Hinata, however, gasped in surprise.

"I see them, the guard at the entrance in under a genjutsu and they're already in the swamps, running toward the village," she announced loudly. A blush crept up her neck and onto her cheeks at her friends' surprised faces. "I...I mean..."

"Hinata, Ino and Chouji, let's go. Please, guys cover us."

"We will!" Lee almost yelled and Tenten put her hands on his mouth. "Oh, sorry!"

"We'll go too." Shikamaru nodded at Haku and they left the room.

Making sure nobody would see them, they tip-toed to the entrance. As Hinata had told them, the guard was sleeping, slumped against the wall.

"Suigetsu knew it wasn't Utakata-san or Kimou-san, otherwise it wouldn't have worked," Chōjūrō noted. "But...Suigetsu knows the stakes."

"Should we wake him up?" Chouji asked, staring at the sleeping man.

"No."

"No?" Ino repeated at Shikamaru.

"Haku-san, if I were to tell you we're going to go after them to stop them, would you come with us?" Haku blinked at him for a second and frowned, nodding severely. "Good, then it's settled."

"What? No! Shikamaru, it's insane!" the blonde Yamanake told her friend, Chouji having let his chips fall on the floor. "It's Kiri, we're going to die!"

"Someone has to stop them Ino. I know it sounds crazy and it's dangerous, but as the only chuunin it's my responsibility to get Naruto and Sakura back. Plus, Team Gai are fighters and Team Eight are trackers. We're the best if it's infiltration, with your Mind Body Switch and my Shadow Imitation Technique."

"But what kind of shinobi are left in Kiri?" the Akimichi asked shyly.

"Mainly anbu and jounin, some chuunin. But most of Kiri is part of the Resistance, even if they're in the vilage."

"They'll most likely die if they're found," Shikamaru reminded them. "I mean, not that I'm close to Sakura, and Naruto is loud, obnoxious and annoying, but they're Konoha nonetheless and I won't give up on them. Plus, there's Sasuke too. The guy's not officially back, but I'm not going to fail a second time." Chouji made a step forward, determination written all over his face.

"I'm in."

"What!? But..." Ino looked at her teammates and sighed. "Now I understand Sakura when she says her team is insane. This is insane."

"What is the plan for the genin Haku-san?"

"You're supposed to protect the last civilians in the village to go in the Land of Wave. The evacuation is supposed to happen as the distraction by Rahyō is happening. The genin from Kiri are also supposed to go, and the attack is carried out by chuunin, jounin and anbu."

"Then, they will most likely summon all of the genin at once," Shikamaru stated. "Fine, Hinata, Chōjūrō-san, please tell of the situation to the rest of the genin. They shouldn't be long to summon them, they'll see for themselves we're not there, explain the situation at that moment."

"Shikamaru, aren't you risking your rank?" Shikamaru shrugged at his best friend's worry.

"Yeah, like all of us. I'd rather lose my rank than my life though."

"Let's go," Haku announced and they left as one man.

Chōjūrō and Hinata stared at their retreating back, then at each other, and finally at the sleeping shinobi.

"Should...should we wake...wake him up now?"

"Shikamaru-san said to wait until you're summoned...so I guess not?"

* * *

"Alright, then we can sta..." Mei started, only to stop at the missing orange shinobi that was Akane's relative. His pink-haired teammate was missing too, like Sasuke. "Hatake-san, where is your team?"

"Huh?" Kakashi raised his eye from his book and scanned the room. None of his minions were here. Not even Sakura, the most rational one. "Oh God, what did they do now?"

"They left actually," Chōjūrō told them quietly. He straightened immediately at Zabuza's presence in his back. "We think Suigetsu wanted to go in Kiri immediately and Sasuke followed him, then Naruto-kun, Sakura-san and Karin." The jounin stared at the Swordsman, who looked at his feet.

"Geez Kakashi, your genin don't like taking orders," Asuma told his fellow jounin sensei. Kurenai shot him a glance from the corner of her eyes.

"I don't see your team either." Asuma's smirk fell and he scanned the room.

"Where's Haku?" Zabuza asked.

"After Suigetsu, with Nara-san's team." Asuma face-palmed.

"Looks like my team isn't the only troublesome one after all," Kakashi told him idly, to which the Sarutobi responded with a glare.

"Seriously, these brats will never give us a break," Jiraya whined.

Shisui glanced at Itachi, who was strangely silent. He grabbed his arm and dragged him away from the group.

"You're taking that better than you should Itachi, why?"

"You've noticed then?"

"Of course I have, I know you all too well!" Itachi sighed deeply.

"I may have overheard them before they left." Shisui opened his eyes wide.

"You didn't stop them?"

"They're not here, are they?"

"I swear, it's a struggle to follow you recently."

"I'm aware."

"Why did you let Sasuke go then?" Itachi shrugged.

"I don't have the authority to tell him otherwise until he's back in Konoha." Shisui blinked at him.

"Wait, are you saying you let him go because his actions won't reflect on Konoha because he defected recently? And Sakura and Naruto? Team Asuma?"

"They're with a chuunin from Kiri, Team Seven as well. Once Akane is out, she'll know what to do. She's a lot smarter than what she lets on."

"You're counting on them to do what we can't do then."

"Precisely."

"When did you become so scheming?"

The youngest shrugged once again and Shisui pinched the bridge of his nose. There were times where he would forget Itachi was four years younger than him. He had the tedious habit to remind him of that in the worst moments possible.

"I trust you to keep it for yourself?" Itachi inquired more seriously. Shisui waved him off.

"Yeah yeah...I swear than anyone under the age of twenty is going to give me a heart attack one day."

* * *

"Stop!" Karin ordered them. "Hide!" Suigetsu liquefied himself, making himself look like a puddle caused by the pouring rain. Sasuke jumped in a tree with Sakura as Karin and Naruto jumped behind a boulder nearby. From their spot, they could see the top of the cliff they were climbing, and the faint lights of what was Kiri further down.

"Wha..." Karin pressed her hand against Naruto's mouth.

"Can you believe it?" A male voice said as two shinobi walked between them. "It's a shame Mangetsu betrayed us. Uzumaki though? It was to be expected, I don't get why the Mizukage just doesn't end her once and for all." The redhead hold the blond Uzumaki back.

"Can you shut up for a second? We're supposed to scoot the area for their hideout, so keep your mouth shut," the other said coldly.

"Geez, no need to be a jerk man." Once their voices were faint noises, they left their hiding spots.

"We have the confirmation Akane-sensei is alive," Sakura stated, her voice shaking.

"We have to move," Sasuke reminded them coldly.

They climbed the last meters and once at the top of the cliff, four out of the five shinobi stopped to stare at the Hidden Mist for a second.

"So...so that's Kiri?" Naruto wondered out loud. "It's...hum..."

"Scarred," Karin finished for him. "This part over there is completely in the dark and almost outside the rest of the village."

"It's the old clans' compounds," Suigetsu explained briefly. "After the civil wars where Kiri slaughtered most people with kekkai genkai, the survivors fled and what used to be their homes turned into the ghost part of the village, to remind people to shut up and follow orders. The one still mainly standing you see there is the Yuki clan, Uzu's and Haku's clan. It's where we're going."

"It's on the opposite side of us!" Sakura protested.

"I know, but the north entrance, where we are, is the most guarded. It's where the higher class lives. The old compounds are deserted, it's the safest way to enter Kiri.

"Karin, Suigetsu, lead the way."

They started running after Sasuke's order. They ran up the rocky walls of the mountains surrounding Kiri, high enough to be hidden in the mist. Even if the rain was pouring on them, freezing them to the bone, they did not stop.

"It should be safe to go down," Karin told them after a dozen of minutes of running as fast as they could.

They did, ever so slightly but stopped quickly.

"I didn't feel them," Karin whispered with horror. "I..."

"They're oinin," Suigetsu told her. "Fuck!"

"How fast would they spot you?" Sasuke asked him. The shinobi under them, maybe a dozen, were talking and seemingly on guard. Their seals were protecting them for now.

"I have no idea, they're anbu trained in hunting down missing-nin like me. They can spot us by spotting something else than our chakra."

"We can't stay here!" Naruto hissed at them under his breath, his fists clenched tightly at his sides. "We need a plan!"

"A diversion," Sakura added thoughtfully. "That's what we need, a flashy diversion to buy us time."

"A flashy diversion?" Naruto repeated with a puzzled expression. However, he gulped at all eyes staring at him up and down. "Wh...what?"

"We need a flashy diversion and you're wearing bright orange," Suigetsu deadpanned at him, his straw between his lips.

"It's a great color!"

"Shut up moron, make enough clones to occupy them and use a henge to hide the fact you're from Konoha."

"Oh! Oh I can do that." Naruto ran above them, deep in the mist.

They heard a 'Shadow Clones Jutsu!', then a 'Henge' and many shinobi, all wearing black from head to toe, fell in front of them.

"That...that's a lot!" Suigetsu noticed with wide eyes.

"What are you waiting for dattebayo!? Let's go!"

They started running again, the undignified yelling of the oinin ringing less and less in their ears. Against all odds, they landed in the ghost district without being spotted.

"Damn, hid..." Karin was stopped short when a kunai was on her throat. She looked to her right, where Sakura was in the same predicament.

"Nice diversion, even if you youngsters are troublesome."

* * *

"What now? I thought the seals were supposed to hide our chakra!" Ino cursed at the three shinobi with her.

"They do, they were scooting the area but not for us." Haku made sure they wouldn't wake up and the two shinobi were tied up to two different trees.

"I hate to say this, but if we ended up facing two of them, there might be more in front of us. Do you have any idea on where they're going?" Shikamaru asked him.

"ANBU HQ, but from the direction they're going, they might try to infiltrate the village via the old clans' compounds, it's been desert for years. They're taking the most dangerous way these idiots." No, Haku did not denigrate people often, but Suigetsu's behavior was getting on his nerves.

"Is there another one then?"

"The sewers, it's the way the others will be taking shortly to infiltrate too. Please follow me."

Unlike the first group, they turned before the cliff overlooking the village. The slippery soil of the swamps turned dirtier and the water went from a greenish blue to grayish. The entrance to the sewer were higher than them and circular, in gray stones with some metal bars on the right side, two intacts but the three others broken at the middle.

"That smell!" the only kunoichi complained, pinching her nose.

"It's the sewers, what did you expect Ino?" Chouji asked her. She blushed in shame.

"It's...it's just that..."

"Hey, will you two shut up for a moment?" Shikamaru cut them off with a frown. "Haku-san, how long do you think it will take?"

"The safest is to take the same path they'll take, so we'll exit the sewers in the lower-class district. We just need to be fast."

There was not a lot of visibility. They walked on the side of the canal of sewer water, garbage floating on the surface. Except for the darkness and the smell of rot, they were the only one. However, Haku stopped them at the sight of black symbols in the crack of the wall.

" _I hate you all," Suigetsu muttered, covered in dirt._

 _They ignored him._

" _Chōjūrō, show me what Harusame-san gave you please," Uzu asked her old student, a brush stuck behind her ear and the cap of her ink bottle between her teeth. She nodded and carefully, recreated the seal from the paper inside the crack._

" _What is it senpai?_

" _A seal aiming at blocking the sewers until the fighting is done."_

However, the ink smudged and other symbols were there. He didn't know fuinjutsu, but he knew a small part of the seal was not Uzu's making, and that her seals simply just did not _smudge_.

Someone had altered it.

"It's a latent one, it needs to be activated," Shikamaru told him.

"I know, but someone altered it." Haku formed a hand seal and some water from the canal rose and covered the seal. It became an invisible shield of ice. "Harusame-san will know what to do."

They started moving again. Running at shinobi speed, Haku outrunning them in spite of himself, they found themselves smelling the sea air once outside. Haku made a turn and the south entrance, with not even one guard, was in sight. It was a gate within the rocks of the mountain, not decorated but just in clumsily cut stones.

And then, they were in Kiri, struck by the poverty, the stone houses were not taken care of. Ino widened her eyes at the sight of dry blood on the wall of a house, but before she could say anything they were behind barrels between two houses.

"Remove your forehead protectors, people can't know you're from Konoha." They did. "We will need to make a quick detour."

"We don't have the time!" The Nara replied hastily.

"But trying to find them without precautions will get us killed. Especially..."

"It's not time yet, so what is it?" A kunoichi asked the girl next to her.

"I don't know, apparently something like a hundred unknown shinobi attacked the north entrance. Anyway, let's go!" They both left.

"A hundred shinobi?"

"Naruto's clones," Shikamaru told Chouji. "They must have needed a diversion. How far are we from the ANBU HQ?"

"Fifteen minutes if we're not caught, like them but they're on the other side of the village. I won't be long." Shikamaru pursed his lips in reflection. He ended up closing his eyes and breathed out heavily.

"Fine, it's a drag but we don't have any other choice."

Funny enough, they went to a small apartment. There were still dirty dishes in the kitchen sink.

"If you want to eat something quickly, it's now or never." Chouji went to the kitchen immediately.

"It's your place I presume?" Haku nodded at Shikamaru, removing the coffee table and carpet in front of the couch.

"And Uzu-nee's." Shikamaru and Ino moved closer to him at the sight of four seals in the floorboard. Haku flattened his hand against one and gave a rectangular white paper to the Nara. "It's to communicate with people who have the same seal. No, not really communicate but if you activate it, the others will glow red."

"It's for asking for help?" the blonde asked him.

"Exactly. We all had one in Konoha. It also give the directions to reach you to others. Make sure to keep it and don't let an enemy take it."

"Understood, thank you." Haku used another seal, which released various scrolls.

"Medical kits, for emergencies." Another seal, other scrolls. "Empty storage scrolls." As Haku sealed the medical kits in a single scroll, Ino leaned toward Shikamaru.

"Tenten would be in Heaven."

"Oh, empty already," Haku muttered when he tried to use the fourth seal. "Uzu-nee took what was necessary to her. Are you okay with your weapons?" Nods. Haku got up and placed the carpet back, going to the room next.

He took his first forehead protector back and changed it, but he also grabbed Uzu's first and damaged forehead protector. Something caught his attention though. In the back of the drawer was a red and blue scroll, with the word 'Hiraishin' written on it. Under it was various paper tags. Haku widened his eyes.

It was markers. Markers free from any anchor points. In other words, she had movable markers instead of the still one she was using.

Maybe they're were not ready yet, maybe it was why she left them. He knew she hated spending so much money on kunai.

There was a letter too. Haku grasped it gently in his hand, a picture sliding from inside. The Yuki blinked.

There was a blond man with blue eyes smiling kindly to the camera, next to a woman with vibrant red hair and purple eyes. She had Naruto's smile. Another woman was sporting the same vibrant red hair next to her, only with gray eyes.

It was Uzu's mother. Next to her was a man with brown eyes and spiky brown hair. Uzu's father, Ushio. However, he was smirking maliciously at the camera, an arm around his wife's waist.

Haku blinked in confusion at the silver-haired young teenager clearly annoyed at the picture being taken. It was Kakashi-san, he was sure of it. His arms crossed over his chest, the girl with purple marks on her cheeks next to him was smiling brightly. Her posture wasn't straight as her arms were around a redhead boy's neck, her chin on the top of his head.

It was Fubuki, Uzu's older brother. The one Ushio killed. Yet, he was grinning at the camera, the same grin Naruto had. His hair was as spiky as his father but his gray eyes were filled with joy.

He looked a lot like Naruto. More than Uzu looked like him.

Next to them was a boy, an Uchiha apparently, as he had the distinctive black hair and onyx eye. He was holding a toddler against his hips, wearing an over-sized blue jacket with an orange collar and trimmings. The Uchiha fan was proudly displayed on her back. The orange goggles around her neck were obviously too big for her, but she was grinning at the camera, like the Uchiha holding her. Haku turned the picture, the same hand writing than on the scroll present. Only it was even older.

'Kushina, Akane, Akiko, Rin, Kakashi, Obito, Fubuki, Ushio and I, Land of Hot Waters'

"Haku-san, is everything alright?"

"Oh, yes, I'm fine Nara-san. Let's go," he said after he jumped at the unexpected question. Sliding the picture, letter, tags and scroll in his pouch, they left the apartment.

Haku could only hope they would go home later.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to kankananime123, machiaveIIian and Guest for the reviews!**

 **Bye!**


	49. Kiri Battle Arc: Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 13**

 **Shisui: 22**

 **Kakashi: 27**

* * *

"Akane."

"For the hundredth time, if it's not about the coup, then it can wait until the end of the day that's coming. Or the end of this night," I snapped coldly at my godfather. He sighed behind me. My eyes remained close and I stood still, sat cross-legged on the floor of my own mind. Or seal.

"Fine." I smirked to myself in victory.

I had been 'tortured'. They were soft, they hit me but nothing more than bruises for now. They should know, Yagura knew I was tougher than that.

I didn't know what they were playing at, but I would outsmart them. In case of being compromised, sensei was clear. Handle it until you hear the Resistance attacking, and make your move. For now, there were guards in front of my cell. Funny enough, I wasn't in the regular cells, no. I had been for maybe an hour and then they moved me to the floating cells. Basically, there was a pool under me and sharks locked in cages on the side. I could see bones at the bottom of the pool. Me? I was in a cage barely the size of my body, handcuffed in my back keeping me fro using my chakra with my hands.

It looked like they forgot I could use my feet to make seals as well.

The cage was hanging from the ceiling by an old rusted metal chain that would grate every single time I made the slightest movement.

I went back to reality when my cage started going down.

"Come on Uzumaki, it's time for your bath again!" an anbu snickered. I didn't spare him a glance and breathed deeply.

The water was cold and dirty. My head was then pressed against the top of my cage.

I was soon underwater, not knowing when I would be able to breath again. I couldn't say how long it was, but my body started convulsing and tried to break free, my mind panicking at the idea of drowning. I fought my fear of water a long time ago, but I still thought drowning was the worst death I could have.

I gasped for air loudly when I was out of the water. I ignored their mocking laughter.

I needed to breath. I needed to calm down.

I was under water again five seconds later, and the struggle of above and under water lasted for too long. Literally, because the two left me underwater and left their posts. Alright, now or never.

I flexed my legs as much as I could to put my feet on the bars of the cage. They were blown up a second later and I left my cage.

My eyes went wide when the sharks were set free because of my actions though, and I still had blood on me. Being almost at the bottom of the pool, I swam faster than I had ever done in my entire life to the surface. Not giving me a break, I stood on the water and ran to the wall, running on it to reach the balcony. I jumped over the fence and sighed in relief, overjoyed at the fact I could breath in the dusty and wet air of the room.

" **You have to move Akane** ," oji-chan reminded me.

"Oh shush you." I stood up on numb and shaking legs. I needed to get out of these handcuffs. For that I would need to...a senbon? I couldn't risk an explosive seal.

Come on Akane, think. Where did they put my stuff? I could summon kunai, but the blade was too big to break the lock and the handcuffs too solid to break with a kunai.

I ran to a dark corner of the room when one of them came back. He was stiffer than I before I think, and immediately went to the pool.

"What? Where is she?" I sneaked behind him, ready to attack, but stopped.

My body wasn't responding to me anymore. The anbu spun around and squeaked in surprise at my sight. I blinked at him.

Squeak?

"Akane-san, you almost killed him," a lazy voice said at the door. I turned my head against my will to see Shikamaru, and he turned his head again. I frowned and looked at the anbu.

"Ino is that you?" He nodded and crossed his fingers.

"Kai!" He fell to the floor and a female groan reached my ears. Shikamaru stopped his Shadow Imitation Jutsu and I fell onto my knees.

Alright, that shit was great to give you a panic attack. With the water torture and that, my heart was pounding too fast in my chest.

I jumped when the other anbu was sent in the pool.

"I'll remove these," Haku said in my back, working on the handcuffs as the anbu was screaming in agony. The sharks were eating him alive, and Ino, who now was up and with Chouji, paled drastically.

The handcuffs fell to the floor and I rubbed my sore wrists, my shoulders and arms numb from being pulled back for hours.

"Thanks guys, but why are you here? It's not the plan."

"We were after Suigetsu,Sasuke, Karin, Naruto and Sakura-san," my cousin informed me and I turned tired eyes to him. "They left after we heard about your mission."

"I'll kill them later," I whispered and stumbled once I was up.

"You need a medic," Shikamaru stated.

"No time, my stu..." Oh, Chouji smiled at me, showing me what was in his arms. "Oh...oh good, you're pretty good at saving people guys."

"Thanks," they answered in sync.

"There's everything?"

"Yes," Haku assured me. I closed my eyes and focused on Sasuke's marker. He was in the village and he wasn't moving. However, he was still pretty much alive.

Had he been caught? He wasn't that far though, just in…

"Huh, they got in by the ghost part of the town?" I asked them and they nodded. I made a shadow clone who took Ino's and Shikamaru's hand. I did the same with Chouji and Haku. "They, at least Sasuke, is not moving but alive."

"Captured?" Shikamaru inquired. I shook my head.

"I don't think so, I'm pretty sure they're at Suigetsu's." I teleported all of us there, at Sasuke's marker.

And they all jumped in surprise, especially Sasuke who grabbed his katana and pointed it at me, sharingan spinning in his eyes. They stared at us, dumbfounded, as I put the tip of my finger on Sasuke's blade and pushed it away from my carotid.

"You're all so troublesome," Shikamaru whined, crouching down. He was more relax though, like Ino, Chouji and Haku.

Sasuke started to move toward me, eyes wide in stupor, but Naruto beat him and threw himself into my arms. I slouched, hugging him back and probably keeping him from breathing.

"Is everybody alright?" Chouji asked them. They all said yes.

"How come we're the one who ended up helping Akane-sensei?" Ino asked them curiously. They shared a defeated look.

"We were kept here against our will," Suigetsu grunted, his hands behind his head. I glared at him and he gulped. Just as he said that, a man with an eye-patch and blue hair entered the room. I sighed in relief.

"Thanks Ao-san."

"It was nothing, Mei-san managed to warn me just in time for me to catch them."

"Hey, that guy put kunai at Karin's and Sakura-chan's throat!" Naruto complained, raising his head toward me. I flicked his nose.

"But they're fine, aren't they?" I choked when someone hugged my neck in my back. Then, whitish blond hair was tickling my cheek. "Kimou? You're here too?"

"Yes love, I am!" I rolled my eyes and I plugged one of my ear when Naruto started telling her off. Kimou, of course, being herself, talked back. I went to Sasuke's side, who had the biggest deadpan ever.

"Worried about me?" I teased him with a weak smirk. He snorted and looked away.

"You got compromised idiot." He was angry.

"Sorry?"

"Hn." He looked at me up and down from the corner of his eyes. "You seem to be fine."

"I've been better, but I'm not too bad. Karin, you took some healing seals with you?" She nodded and I grabbed my stuff from Chouji.

Once locked in the bathroom with Karin, she asked me to undress, only leaving my underwear on. She inspected the bruises on my skin and palpated some spot, her left hand adjusting her glasses mechanically. I winced when she pressed her cold fingers on the side of my stomach.

"It looks like a minor internal bleeding." I closed my eyes, letting her placing various paper tags on me. The warm chakra soothing my aching body made my eyelids heavier. Karin shook me out of my drowsiness. "Don't fall asleep Uzu-nee!"

"Sorry...what time is it?"

"Three and a half in the morning, we received your report approximately four hours ago." Huh, it seemed...an eternity ago.

It seemed like it was an eternity ago I witnessed my best friend stopping breathing.

I jumped on my feet and grabbed my black pants. I was going to put my black shirt back on but Karin stopped me.

"Maybe you should fix your bandages." I blinked and looked down at my left arm. It was damped and tearing apart, leaving some skin in sight.

"Yeah, tell Sasuke I need him, alone." She nodded and left in the blink of an eye. I took off the bandages and raised a brow. The symbols...they weren't on my hands before, were they? At least, before Raiga…never mind. I cleaned my face and neck from the dry blood there still was with a wet clothes. Sasuke entered the bathroom without knocking as I was splashing cold water on my face to wake me up. "I need a hand for my bandages."

"Hn." I dried my face and sat back on the toilet seat, Sasuke's hand firmly wrapped around my left wrist, holding my arm up. None of us talked while he bandaged my arm to hide the marks, but his eyes were conflicted.

"I've never thanked you, did I?" He raised confused eyes to me. "For saving my life in Uzushio, and for not asking anything about what happened when you must have wondered what the hell I was doing." His eyes found the scar on my arm. Scar he caused. "It's a small price to pay."

"Will you tell me one day? What it was?"

"I don't know Sasuke, it's a clan's secret. Shit, it's a secret within the clan's secrets."

"But it won't hurt you, will it?" I shrugged.

"I'm not sure. For now I'm fine." He finished the bandages and I ruffled his hair. He shooed my hand away, so I put my black shirt back on, followed by my gray flak jacket. I tied my holster to my right thigh, my back pouch to my waist and took the scroll I grabbed back at my place.

"It's really not the moment to dress up," Sasuke reminded me dryly in my back. I ignored him and delicately, I slipped the haori on. It reached my knees and was a deep red, the burgundy at the bottoms of the sleeves, so at my wrists, strangely more vibrant. The piece of clothing was baggy and supple, yet resistant, allowing the fight to be easier. The collar was high, too much to my liking, and it was itching my cheek. On my back was the Uzumaki clan's crest, but not only. Sasuke put his finger on the emblem under the Uzumaki's. "A snowflake?"

"The Yuki clan's crest." It was a pale blue in a black circle. Haku could sew, who knew. "I'm not playing dressing up by the way, it's symbolic. The Yuki clan was the first to be slaughtered in Kiri, I'm pretty sure my grandfather was executed in public to serve as an example. It's like, revenge is best served cold, you had it coming and now we're here to put a term to the Bloody Mist and everything it did to start up fresh.

"Ah."

"Yep," I retorted, mentally thanking Haku for taking my old forehead protector. I tied it tightly around my forehead, still flattening the stubborn lock of auburn hair between my eyes until the side of my nose. However, my hair in general was a little bit longer than just shoulder-length.

For once, I placed Nuibari on my back. They didn't take it, probably because they didn't really know where it was in all of my seals.

The scratch in the metal on my head gave me a faint smile. I quickly checked the chakra seals on my right arm. I had seven.

"Well Sasuke," I told him, noticing how his bangs were not parted anymore but just falling on his forehead, how his hair seemed flatter at the back like old Sasuke. "I'm ready to go."

"You're going after the Mizukage then?" I mused at that as we walked down the stairs. "Alone?"

"The aim is not the murder of a Kage Sasuke," I admitted to him. He raised his brows. "No, I'm going after him because I'm the most used to fighting him but also because I'll break the genjutsu."

"It's a Sharin..."

"Still a genjutsu. Every techniques have a weakness, Sharingan or not, this genjutsu does too and I'm gonna find it and shatter it." We joined the others. Ao-san had his arms crossed over his chest, his eye close, as Kimou was looking through the window.

It was then I noticed it. The heavy and thick genjutsu surrounding the house.

"Ao-san, what's the plan now?"

"State of your fighting skills?"

"I'll push it to a hundred and fifty percent." No, I didn't really answer his question, because it was not important.

"I see. Mei-san has been clear in her message. Wait for the diversion and then we'll make sure the genin reach their comrades to evacuate the civilians. You already know your part."

"Okay."

"What!?" Naruto exploded. "We're here and we can fight, let us..." I knocked him on the head. He rubbed the sore spot. "Nee-chan!"

"Naruto, remember how Konoha was during the Chuunin Exams?" The atmosphere dropped in temperature and my cousin's eyes narrowed in sorrow. He nodded in silence. "Good, remember how Gaara was a tough opponent? How the Sandaime died against Orochimaru? Well this is going to be the same, if not worse. You guys are all genin, and not from this village. You're here to protect the civilians that were hurt during all of this shinobi bullshit. Us, shinobi who started to rebel, will fight, but we can't do it if we don't have the assurance these innocent people aren't safe and sound away from here. Don't waste your life for our fight."

"But I want to help you!" I sighed softly and took his chin between my fingers. I raised his face toward me enough for my lips to kiss his forehead, raising his headband at the same time.

"Naruto, I'm begging you, go. I won't be able to look at Mom if something happened to you."

"Well I won't be able to look at her either if something happened to you! Let me help you!" I shot a look at Ao-san, ignoring how everyone was watching us. Ao-san shook his head in negation.

"No."

"But nee..."

"What if I stayed with him?" I raised a brow at Haku. What...did he have in mind? "Would it be okay? Karin could take his place and she'll be better at detecting possible threats than Naruto-kun."

"If the loser is staying I'm staying too," Sasuke decided behind me. I shot him a betrayed look but he didn't quiver at it.

"Jounin and anbu, we're mainly going against jounin and anbu, it's really not the time to act like brats!" I snapped at the two. However, they glared back, clearly not taking 'no' for an answer. "Ao-san, say something!"

"You're going with no protests?" he asked the other genin and Shikamaru. I gaped at him as they all said 'yes'. "Good." I furrowed my brows in confusion.

"What?"

* * *

"It's Haku," Zabuza said, staring intently at the ice surrounding the seal. "Something's not right with the seal."

"I gave the model myself," Harusame refuted, walking toward him. He narrowed his eyes at the seal. "Was it...altered?"

"Wow, you still have sharp eye Harusame-san!" The group, consisting of Konoha, Kakashi and Asuma now included, Zabuza, Harusame, Utakata, Mei, Dai, Chōjūrō, Naoto and a few other Kiri shinobi, turned around. Ushio waved at them with a taunting smirk. "Oh my, the Terumis grew up, Utakata and Naoto too."

"Are you here to fight against us Ushio-san?" Naoto asked him sharply, stepping forward between Izumi and a brown haired Konoha anbu.

"Well, your dad hired us to get rid of you guys."

"No, he didn't. He wouldn't have hired you or have any contact with you." Ushio's eyes became sly.

"Oh? What are you implying?"

"I don't know, you tell me." The Uzumaki's smirk vanished.

"You grew up into a fine and smart young man Naoto, but I'm done with the talking now." He raised a hand and a water dragon rose from the canal. "Suiton: Water Dragon Bullet Technique."

"Doton: Earth Style Wall!" The dragon crashed against the wall. Said wall crumbled when the dragon disappeared and Naoto cursed, pink eyes glaring at the chains around him.

"Here I thought Yagura and I taught you better than that!" Ushio frowned at the smirk on the young man's lips. Then, in a fraction of seconds, he looked down. He looked at Jiraya and the rasengan in his hand.

"Rasengan!" The orb touched the target, however it couldn't do all the damages intended as Ushio teleported himself a few meters back, an Hiraishin mark on the ground around them. The missing-nin was breathing heavily, the cloak destroyed at his abdomen, leaving his gray shirt in plain sight. "You still have good reflexes."

"This technique brings back bad memories," he growled in anger.

"Go join the other Naoto," Jiraya ordered the anbu. "I take care of him."

Naoto nodded and left.

Now inside the village, Dai looked at his sister.

"It's okay to leave the only Sannin of the group behind?"

"He is the one who decided to stay behind," Fugaku said coldly, "Jiraya-sama knows what he is doing."

"What is the plan now?" Kakashi asked Mei.

"There are three buildings we need to take back: the hospital, the Kage building and the weapon factory. A portion of the diversion group will take care of the weapon factory. Zabuza will lead the group for the Kage building and I'll lead the one for the hospital. Hatake-san, Sarutobi-san, you..." An explosion was heard behind them. The fight causing the diversion at the north could be heard from their position, but then a giant turtle with three tails appeared in the west part of the village. "Already?"

"The Sanbi?" Itachi whispered with a frown. "Under control?"

"The Mizukage is a jinchuriki who controls his bijuu," Zabuza told them flatly.

"Hn, Izumi, Shisui, follow the group to the Kage building. Itachi, you and I will join the hospital group. Cat, with us and Aburame with them," Fugaku ordered them. Nobody contradicted him.

"Utakata, you know your role, right?" The Rokubi jinchuriki nodded. "Then find Akane."

They all dispersed.

* * *

" _The letter? Why?"_

" **Just do** **it** **Akane.** "

As I was at the end of the group with Kimou, the sound of the diversion as a background, I took the letter Haku took at home. I opened it, careful of the picture with it.

" **The symbol, at the bottom. Use it.** " I did, understanding it was a seal of some sort I had never noticed before, and found myself staring with wide eyes at the kunai in my hand. Three blades, the central one bigger than the two at its sides, and a formula I had not seen in years. " **I thought having it applied somewhere would help you understanding it better.** "

" _Heh, never thought you'd be stuck with me._ "

" **Pretty much.** " He stayed silent for a couple of seconds and I heard him sigh in my head. " **It's better if I stay back for the time being so that you can focus, but be careful.** "

" _I'll do my best to survive, and make sure Naruto does too._ " I clenched the kunai in my fist.

"What's that?" Kimou asked me with curiosity. I flashed her a confident grin that actually made her blush. Her crush on me was a tough one apparently.

"A memory, from the time I spent in Konoha as a child."

"Oh. Was it when you met the Uchiha?"

"Shisui?"

"Yes, Dai and him were fighting like brats and he tried to bring up the fact he knew you since you were four and half, but Dai said he knew you since you were in diapers."

"But they kept going because one of them just _had_ to win?"

"Men," she simply said as a matter of fact. I chuckled and stopped like the rest of the group as we were about to enter the middle-class district.

"Alright, it's time to separate!" Ao-san told us. "Kimou, take the genin to the evacuation. Haku, with Suigetsu, and now Sasuke and Naruto because they're not moving from here, you'll activate the seals in the mountains to block the exit. Uzumaki..."

"I know, it's time to play cat and mouse with Yagura. Hopefully Utakata will join me soon." Yeah, who was better to help kick a jinchuriki's butt than our another local jinchuriki?

"Fine, scatter!"

I jumped on a building and made the Tiger Seal. Yagura...where was his marker? In the village for sure, but I had difficulty to get a clear connection. The marker was here, but...something was almost blocking it.

Until it was not and a violent wind blew across the village, the subtle hint of chakra in it.

Yagura was in Isobu's form, near where the diversion was happening.

Crap, I needed to get him to the lower class district before fighting him. I needed to distract him.

I needed his attention all on me.

I teleported to two markers consecutively and, with chakra under my feet, ran up the mountain. I still couldn't use the Hiraishin more than three times in a row without my legs giving up on me. Once I was at the highest point, I spun around to face the village. I could see smoke at the north and lights on the way to the three main sites to take over. At the south of the village, I could see black spots, spots being the genin and civilians evacuating.

Finally, I set my eyes on Yagura. My heart broke a little at Isobu whipping his tails around, destroying buildings like castles of cards. I made a mental note to myself that my place was actually close to where he was. I clenched my fists and pushed back any feelings of guilt I could have on fighting Yagura who wasn't even himself.

"I don't know if the guy who's controlling Yagura is listening or even here at the moment," I started in a cold voice, "but I swear on my brother's grave I will make you pay."

I took a deep breath.

"YAGURA!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. The weird connection between the Shinigami seal and a jinchuriki must have amplified my voice to him, because Isobu's single eye found me. He slammed his front paws, similar to hands, on the ground and I felt the shock wave it caused from my spot. He growled loudly, causing wind to lash my face. "Good, you know I'm here for you now."

My eyes widened in shock when dark purple chakra gathering in front of his mouth. It grew, and grew in a Bijuu Bomb bigger than I was used to in the second bijuu mode.

" **Take a kunai, same hand seals than for the Hiraishin but instead of making yourself the target, expand like a wall in front of you.** "

" _Like my storage seals?_ "

" **Exactly like that. Mangetsu and Suigetsu put some markers in the sea, throw it there, it will be big.** "

I gulped and grabbed a kunai as the bomb was thrown my way. It destroyed the buildings in front of it like sandcastles. It was coming fast and I ignored my panic like I could as I went through the hand seals quickly but as precisely as I could.

I wasn't Minato, I would never be Minato but...but I knew the Hiraishin.

Once the hand seals done, I grabbed the handle of the kunai and stretched out my arm. The seal expanded into thin air in front of me, and it was with gritted teeth I pushed myself to expand it more, digging in my chakra even more. My right hand grabbed my left arm to keep it steady as the bijuu bomb was stopped in the seal and sucked into it, thin air distorting like when something was pushing in a sheet.

Once it was completely sucked in, I localized the marker the furthest from Kiri, the one Mangetsu wanted to put the furthest from the village for big stuff.

Huh...he was right about that one.

I released it miles away from the village, and as I felt the explosion behind me, I was short-winded. I still had chakra, thanks Uzumaki reserves and I had my chakra storage seals, but still...creating such a big seal with no hard surface required a lot of chakra, then activating it to suck in so much chakra and released far away was...it was tiresome.

I stopped breathing for a moment when I felt a chakra appearing out of nowhere right behind me. I spun around, my kunai ready to hit the guy.

Dread pooled inside of my stomach when my kunai went through his head. Cold sweat ran down my back at the sight of his orange mask. There was no red clouds.

Just... _him_. Him I wasn't expecting to see.

" **No**." I didn't ask oji-chan what he had, because the air started swirling around the hole for his eye, the red of the Sharingan briefly catching my attention before I teleported myself away. I fell harshly, face first, on the ground at the rocky plateau I used to train with Yagura.

" _What?_ "

" **It's a test, I think everything is a test for him. He's testing you Akane.** "

" _But why?_ " The swirling appeared once again, a few meters in front of me.

" **I don't know, but the bijuu, you teleporting the Tailed Beast Ball, him trying to take you away...it's the same scenario.** " A drop of sweat slid down my temple as he fully materialized in front of me. " **It's the Kyuubi attack all over again, he's reproducing the scenario of that night Akane. He's going to fight you!** "

"I can't run like I used huh," I whispered harshly to myself. No Akatsuki cloak, just black clothes with a sort of gray thick scarf or collar. And his orange mask. However, his chakra...his presence had nothing from the faint memories I had from Obito, but his chakra...there was the faintest tint of warmth in it, caused by his fire type. It was...all I could see from Obito-nii. "So...should I call you Master?"

* * *

"It's like the night the Kyuubi attacked," Fugaku said, Isobu throwing his bomb toward the mountain.

Itachi felt his mouth becoming dry like a desert when he saw the red spot in front of the attack. Before he could say anything, Kakashi placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Don't you worry Itachi, she can handle it." As if on cue, black fuin symbols appeared in thin air and sucked in the attack. "See? Sensei would be proud if he could see it."

"Naruto is not the only one who took after Minato," his father added and Itachi blinked.

He knew Akane was a kunoichi, that she had known the Fourth Hokage very well and he knew she kept training in Konoha. Unlike Shisui, he always knew she wasn't weak. He wasn't all that surprised she knew the same techniques than the Fourth Hokage.

But she was eighteen, almost nineteen. Itachi knew she wasn't to be taken lightly, but she wasn't a genius. It was a good thing though, but she wasn't a genius like the Fourth had been. So how…

What was the missing piece in the puzzle that was Akane to make him understand how fast she had progressed? Not that he had had an idea of her level but…but he just knew she shouldn't be at this level that young.

Just...what was he missing?

Suddenly, the Sanbi was covered in white smoke. When it vanished, he wasn't there anymore.

"The Fourth went back to his human form," Mei told them. "Let's go!"

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to kankananime123 and NguyetMieu for the reviews. And no, ShisuixAkane is not the official pairing, sometimes it may seems that way, some other times it may seems like ItachixAkane, but with how I picture the Shippuden era, there won't be any final pairings for a long while, and I'm really tempted to write different endings for the two pairings because both of them have their chances :)**

 **Bye!**


	50. Kiri Battle Arc: Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 13**

 **Shisui: 22**

 **Kakashi: 27**

* * *

"You swore on your brother's grave," he told me in a deep voice, and my mind went numb for a second. Right, Obito wasn't a kid anymore, he was an adult, like Kakashi, it was normal for his voice to have changed. "But I guess after spending years to cultivate your talent, you better show some skills." In the blink of an eye, a giant fireball was coming my way. It grazed the plateau above us and I countered it with my Big Waterfall Technique, a huge ball of water the size of his fireball spat out of my mouth. Vapor blinded me when the attacks collided and I used my sensing at the best of my abilities, teleporting on the lake behind us when he was in front of me.

My Hiraishin was faster than his teleportation, but he didn't need markers.

"Suiton: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!" My water dragon rose and I made another hand seal. "Hyōton: Freezing Technique!" The dragon froze and I ran to his head as I made him crash toward Obito.

"This won't work on me," he droned, disappearing in a swirl as the head of my dragon crashed in the wall. I was gone before it exploded in multiple shards of ice, safe two plateaus above.

I deflected a kunai with my own and watched him running to me. Fast, he was fast. I ducked to dodge his punch and tried to kick his ankles, but my leg went through them. My left eye twitched and we kept trading blows after blows, none of mine touching him. His sharingan saw through my taijutsu, I was holding up against him but the more the fight went on, the more he made me step back. My back collided with the wall. He grabbed a kunai, one of my kunai, and lowered it toward me.

I let chakra flow out of my feet, creating an explosive seal, and teleported to the huge rocky wall towering the lake before the kunai touched me. The seal exploded a second after.

Let's think here. I knew all along Obito had his mangekyou and it was a space-time jutsu. He could teleport, and now I knew he could let attacks go through him.

Thanks old Naruto and old Sasuke and old Kakashi for _never_ going into details on the fights of the Fourth Shinobi War.

Obito tried to punch me, so it meant it would have collided with me. Therefore, his fist would have been solid. He needed to be solid to attack.

In other word, speed was the key.

I wasn't as fast as Minato!

" **But you came up with the same conclusion. I managed to hit him with the Hiraishin and then the Rasengan.** "

" _I don't have any close-range jutsu that compares with the Rasengan in term of raw power._ "

" **You lo** **v** **e your explosions, don't you? You can't make them without a surface, but...** " The smoke vanished. Obito was still there, untouched. Even his mask was fine, bus his legs were still in the rubble caused by my explosion, that destroyed the plateau above.

" _But I have my Ice Release and there's a lot of humidity in the air,_ " I finished for him, a smirk flourishing at the corner of my lips. He hummed in the back of my mind in approval.

I needed to...he couldn't see me coming. I had to find a way to get him by surprise and use my rapidity. Slowly, he climbed on top of the rubble. My markers there were of no use anymore. Surprise...if he was sure to get me, he would be solid.

I had to trick him.

I widened my eyes when he made hands seals.

"Katon: Bomb Blast Dance!" A huge spiral of fire, way bigger than me, engulfed before I could do anything.

I brought my arms in front of me with a grimace, already feeling my skin heating up too much. I made hand seals myself.

"Hyōton: Blizzard Breath!" I spat a powerful snow and it was enough to beat his fire. Uchiha or not, elemental kekkai genkai usually beat random elemental jutsu. He got rid of the snow on his mask and I was sure he was smirking in satisfaction behind it.

"You can't mix it with explosive seals like Fubuki used to," he noticed, mocking me. "But it's not bad."

"Don't talk about him like you knew him," I replied coldly. Maybe I could get him to blow his own cover up. He didn't answer.

Let's think...I could try to seal his sharingan, but who knew what it would do to Yagura. Too risky.

"Katon: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" Multiple fireballs came at me. I left the wall to jump on the highest plateau.

"Suiton: Water Shockwave!" All of the water of the lake rose to extinguish the fire and I directed it with my hand to submerge all of the lower plateaus. It did in a crashing sound.

Damn.

This fight was going nowhere except me using my chakra reserves way too fast trying to get him. I already spent half with the many Hiraishin I did and the jutsu I've used. They're chakra consuming, even with good chakra control.

"Hiding in the Mist Technique." Mist became thicker and I focused.

I felt him right away. The Sharingan...couldn't see in the mist, only the Byakugan could do that.

I went into Silent Killing mode, Minato's kunai in hand. I sneaked up behind him easily.

Too easily.

I went for the head, just for my hand to go through it. He turned around and punched me in the stomach. As he touched me, I had a thin wall of ice in front of my free hand and my explosive seal was already on it.

As I spat blood, the seal exploded.

I heard him grunt in pain.

Touched him.

Touched him but too much chakra spent.

"Nice," he complimented me. The explosion sent him the in the wall and said wall cracked under him. "Very nice Akane, very nice."

"Keep your flattery to yourself."

"In any case, maybe you should go back take care of your Kage, don't you think?" I frowned deeply at him casually showing the village with his hand. I looked at it at the corner of my eyes.

Black smoke. I gritted my teeth. It...I didn't know if I could keep up a fight with him any longer. Yagura needed to be put under control.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath, sprinting toward Kiri.

Alright, alright. Calm down Akane.

Find Yagura.

I had...to find Yagura.

* * *

"So now what's your plan Sasuke!? We shouldn't have left Haku and Suigetsu behind!" Naruto roared at Sasuke as they were running in the streets of Kiri.

"Are you stupid!? Don't you remember that two guys with the same cloaks tried to kidnap you!?" Sasuke shot back with anger. "We both got beaten like ants moron, we don't stand a chance!"

"And they do!?"

"Zabuza's there, isn't he!?" Sasuke felt the glare Naruto shot him, but ignored him. His shoulder was bleeding from a lighting that the guy standing with the guy with a scythe threw at them. Naruto wasn't better, his whole left sleeve burned, even if he had already healed from the burns. "We need to go to the hospital!"

"Why the hospital!?"

"Because it's one of the three buildings they're taking back immediately! We'll find people there!"

"Are you lost?"

The two genin stopped and looked at the child to their right. He seemed oddly calm, his pink eyes going back and forth between them. The big club on his back, where a green flower was just under the top, looked threatening.

"I see, you're from Konoha. You're helping the Resistance, right?" he asked them quietly, noticing Naruto's forehead protector.

"Yup!"

"You were talking about the hospital?"

"Yeah, it's where we..." Naruto stopped talking as Sasuke stretched out his arm in front of him, his sharingan spinning lazily in his eyes. "Sasuke?"

"Who are you?" The kid blinked and pointed himself with his finger.

"Me? I'm trying to help."

"No you're not, your chakra is weird. You're not helping us."

The kid's eyes went cold and he smirked. His pink pupils found Naruto.

"So...Uzumaki? You're Akane's brother?" Naruto opened his eyes wide.

"How...how do you know?" He sighed and placed the thing he was hiding in his back on his head. The genin both took a step back at the white and blue hat.

"You're Karatachi Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage. You're Akane's teacher," Sasuke breathed out. Automatically, the Cursed Mark spread to the Level One.

"Congratulation Uchiha, you found the good answer." He took his club, the bigger end toward them.

"Naruto...run!"

They did. They started running again, not knowing where they were going, Yagura closely behind.

"Shadow Clones Technique!" Naruto screamed, hundreds of Narutos appearing. "It should..."

They froze when they heard all of the clones popping at the same time. They turned around.

"What's that!?" Naruto asked, terrified at the pink branches which killed all of his clones at once.

"It looks like coral," Sasuke mumbled. He gulped and grabbed his sword firmly, lightning dancing around the blade.

It was a Kage.

They were against a Kage and Sasuke felt the same fear he felt against Orochimaru during the Chuunin Exams.

They were going to die.

"Let's make it quick," Yagura droned as red chakra engulfed him. When it disappeared, Yagura was no more. Instead, it was a human, with a lot of turtle characteristics, covered in chakra, three tails behind him. He slammed his hands on the ground and a black ball starting growing in front of his mouth.

"Naruto! Sasuke!" They heard their sensei's panicked voice, but the ball was already going at them full speed.

Water rose in front of them to form a shield, and as it froze a female silhouette landed between them and the attack. The ball reached the shield and it exploded, shards of ice flying around. Naruto grabbed Sasuke's shirt to make him duck a piece of ice flying toward his head.

When the smoke of the attack disappeared, the shield went back to being water.

"I swear to God brats, if you want to do something fun fine but let's stay away from deadly situation," the silhouette said.

"Nee-chan!" Naruto exclaimed in relief.

"I'd ask where Haku and Suigetsu are now the exits are blocked," she continued, sparing them a glance and narrowing her eyes at their state, "but I'm guessing the Akatsuki is around."

"Wait nee-chan you just got out of a fight?" Naruto asked her, seeing her exhaustion, how she was breathing heavily and how a small spot of her neck seemed to be burned.

"Yeah." She formed a cross with her fingers and a clone appeared next to her. Ignoring Naruto's awe in his eyes, the clone touched their shoulders. "Kakashi!"

"I have it!" Kakashi answered, his group still watching them. Akane nodded and in the blink of an eye Sasuke and Naruto were by their sensei's side. "You're in big troubles you two."

"You're hurt," Dai told them, already touching Sasuke's wound.

"Zabuza's group is fighting two guys with black cloaks and red clouds," the young Uchiha explained curtly.

"You haven't seen Shisui and Izumi?" his father asked him. Sasuke shook his head.

"We didn't stay long, as soon as I saw their cloaks I grabbed Naruto and left. It's the same organization than before."

They stopped their conversation when Mei spat lava out of her mouth above Akane and the Mizukage, who were exchanging blows with their weapons. Akane jumped out of it as it began to fall. Smoke rose from the jinchuriki when he was touched, but he got rid of it quickly and started running toward his student.

"Uzu, now!" Dai screamed at her.

"I know!" she screamed back, her last hands seal already done. Water rose once again in from of her in a circular shape. The water became a mirror and she grabbed the top to pull it down, another Yagura coming out of it to attack. "Suiton: Water Mirror Technique!"

* * *

I teleported to them and put one knee on the ground. Fuck, I was almost out of chakra already and would dig in my reserves seals soon.

"Long story short sensei, I sent this Tailed Beast Ball in the sea and the Uchiha got his hands on me." Everybody looked at me with wide eyes, including Fugaku and Itachi. "Definitely an Uchiha, I saw his sharingan and a lot of powerful Fire Jutsu. Mangekyou too." I used the humidity to freeze Yagura once he was done with his clone. "It gives him space-time abilities and I used too much chakra against him, too much Hiraishin in a short amount of time. I'm not sure Utakata-senpai will be enough as help."

"You need help with the barrier, clones require too much chakra." I nodded at her and pointed my thumb at Itachi, standing just behind me.

"Itachi, I need Itachi." Except for the Uchiha siblings, nobody found that weird. Sensei stared at him for a second, then at Fugaku-san who nodded.

"Itachi, go." Itachi nodded.

"Alright, we need to move. And this time, Sasuke and Naruto-kun, you're coming with us!" They left and with a deep breath, I got up. Yagura made my ice explode with his chakra.

"You have a plan?"

"I've been working on a plan for almost three years, it's just that my fight before...he made me spend too much chakra. I'll explain on the way, he's coming!" We both dodged Yagura spinning toward us. He exploded the wall of a house behind. "Okay, follow me!"

I started running, Itachi by my side. Yagura was hot on our heels, and as we made our way to the lower district, I made ice walls to slow him down. It was effective, but not that much.

"Okay, Itachi, I need your shurikenjutsu skills." I gave him a scroll in which there were some of my markers. "I have Hiraishin markers in it, I need you to place them in a circle around Yagura and I when I tell you to. Approximately...yeah, thirty to fifty meters apart should be good. Once this is done, your job is done and you flee." He peeked behind him.

"I could use my sharingan." I frowned and glared harshly at him.

"It's our Mizukage, our jinchuriki and our responsibility, and I won't let another Sharingan getting in his mind!" He kept a blank face, said sharingan spinning in his eyes. "You can't do anything without the Mangekyou anyway." He frowned.

"Hn."

"I have this under control, I just...I need your help for this part. Please?"

"I'm already here," he answered flatly, dismissing my politeness.

"AKANE!" Yagura roared behind us and I clicked my tongue in annoyance.

"Coming right up Yagura!"

"He controls his bijuu Akane," Itachi told me with urgency in his voice.

"You think I don't know that? How do you think he would punish me when I didn't meet his expectation? Right now it's nothing more than training for me. Konoha is the only village that treats its jinchuriki as it does, and if you had not noticed yet it's not Konoha here! War hasn't stopped for the past twenty to thirty years!" I barked at him violently. His face stayed cold, only his eyes took a harsher glint.

As we jumped from a roof to another, Yagura shot another Bijuu Bomb. Right at his moment, my sight was troubled and I almost missed the landing, if it wasn't for Itachi grabbing my arm and pulling me into hiding, behind some barrels.

"I get the situation, but you're too low on chakra to fight him!" Itachi finally hissed at me, glaring down on me. I bit back a snarky reply.

"You're right," I admitted. He kept glaring, but looked down at my right arm when I rolled up my sleeve.

"What are those?" he asked me quietly.

"Chakra seals, each of them contains an eighth of my regular reserves." I made the tiger seal with my left hand and used three of them. I sighed in relief when I felt my strengths going back to me. "I told you I had this." I stood up and grabbed his hand to make him run again, Yagura once again after us after searching for us. I was faster and more focus now. Good.

We reached the lower class district fast enough. It was already half destroyed, the poor quality of the buildings had not resisted the fights.

"Alright, you better make it quick Itachi, and make sure nobody disturbs my markers!" He nodded and he was gone in the blink of an eye.

I didn't have the time to make anything to protect myself that Yagura punched me in the back. I was thrown in the rests of a wall and was covered by pieces of concrete, blood dripping down my chin. Coral started to grow on me, restricting my movements. Before my hands were blocked, I turned them so that my palms faced nothing.

I stared at Yagura, charging once again another Bomb when coral reached my elbow. It was fine though because I felt it.

Utakata's senpai chakra was right above us. I raised my eyes as he appeared out of nowhere, his bubble broken. He sent many explosive bubbles to Yagura and made them explode at the same time.

"Need a hand with the coral?" he asked me when he landed in front of me.

"I'm good." Two explosive seals later and I could move. I got up and took off the remaining pieces of coral on me. "What took you so long?"

"What took _you_ so long?" he shot back, tensing as the smoke was slowly disappearing. "I've been waiting." I twitched and walked up to him.

"It didn't occur to you I might have been held up and needed help!?" He shot me an annoyed look and scoffed.

"You can talk, obviously you didn't need that much help." The nerve he had that...handsome but still a jerk. From the corner of my eyes, I saw one of my kunai digging itself deeply in the ground behind Yagura. "How long for the barrier?"

"You'll know when it's time, for now..." With a roar of fury, Yagura fully turned into Isobu in front of us. "Let's buy time." He was huge. Just...there was no other word but huge. And Naruto fought seven out of nine bijuu during the war with Kakashi and Gai-san? With Obito against them too? It was insane.

I was fighting to keep my legs from shaking. I shook my head as Isobu let out a roar and I froze his arms. He shattered it easily and rolled into a ball.

"His shell is too thick," Utakata-senpai groaned next to me.

"Yeah, only his eye can hurt him, but now..." I grabbed senpai and teleported to one of my marker. "Right now it's too difficult to reach it, plus fighting him is not the main goal here." Isobu destroyed the wall of the mountain near the south entrance. There was still fire illuminating the night sky from where he was wreaking havoc earlier, and now he had a direct access to the sea. But...but I trusted Yagura to come back.

And he did, rolling toward us. I looked up when a crow cawed above us.

"A crow?" senpai muttered but I smirked, already going through hand seals. Thanks Itachi, just in time. I put a knee on the ground and slammed my hand on the wet concrete of the still intact road.

"Fuinjutsu: Adamantine Barrier!" My markers glowed blue and I thanked Itachi mentally. He made the zone big.

Chakra rose in the air to form a dome higher than Isobu. Now, we were locked in with the jinchuriki, blue chakra walls surrounding us. I raised my free hand in the tiger seal and made a shadow clone to keep the jutsu.

Haku taught me how to use only one hand for technique. It was useful.

"My turn now?"

"Yeah, good luck senpai." I teleported to another one of my marker as senpai started to make a diversion and occupy Isobu. Between him and I, he was the one with the quick healing and the most chakra. If he needed, Saiken could also come out.

The best way to entertain a bijuu...was another one.

I pulled out two scrolls from my back pouch, both bearing the Uzumaki crest on them. I rolled them out and wiped the blood from my chin with my thumb. I summoned the first sea lion, Oki, and then Umi. They were both gray, and had like a white cloak of them, the edges red. Most importantly, they both had the Uzumaki crest on their back.

"Sanbi!" Oki yelled in surprise. "That's the Sanbi Umi!"

"I know! Akane-san," Umi replied, turning her head to me, "shall we immobilize him?"

"Yeah, please guys. I'm counting on you. Need a lift?"

"The Sanbi!" Oki repeated. Umi hit her on the head and nodded to me. I closed my eyes, relying entirely on senpai to keep Isobu away, as I linked myself to Umi. Then...my marker, there!

"Hiraishin no Jutsu!" I exclaimed, Umi vanishing to appear behind Isobu. I did the same with Oki and realized senpai was already in Version 2.

Alright, time to speed up. Isobu was trying to get out of the barrier, and even if it had kept old Naruto and Kurama when they were going easy, I wasn't sure how long it would last.

Isobu growled as Adamantine Chains wrapped themselves around him, tackling him to the ground. I didn't waste time and ran to him. I climbed on top of his left tail and ran up to his head, canalizing chakra in my feet to keep standing as he tried to break free.

I reached his head. I pulled out Jiraya-san's seal out of my pouch, and a chakra storage seal. I put them on his head, activating the second one right away. I took it back before the red chakra destroyed it by overcharging it and activated Jiraya-san's seal. Isobu started to disappear to only leave Yagura, but I used the direct connection between the paper seal and Isobu's chakra to place my own Chakra Suppressing Seal to lock in Isobu's power.

I fell on my stomach once Isobu totally disappeared in a puff of smoke, like Yagura in front of me. I groaned in pain and, with trembling arms, got on all four. I was breathing heavily, like him. He got on one knee, his harsh but exhausted pink eyes on me.

"What...what did you do?"

"You can't...can't cheat anymore it's...between you and me..." I replied, trying to catch my breath. Utakata was back to his usual look, and my summons left once they deemed their job done. I activated two more chakra seals and got up, like him.

"It had to happen one day," he recognized, grabbing his club.

"Yeah. I'm your student, it's my job to put an end to your tyranny, Yagura." I teleported to Yagura thanks to the marker I placed on him months ago, grabbed him and teleported to the training grounds, where I fought Obito earlier.

I messed up the landing though. Yagura fell near the marker, but I fell too and slid a few meters away from him in a cloud of dust.

We were both exhausted. He used his bijuu too much. I...wouldn't last for long. I needed to break the genjutsu, and fast.

I focused a little bit of chakra in my left arm. I felt the marks heating up, reacting, and almost like a thread being developed between my arm and Yagura's seal.

"I'm sorry, but I'm done playing your games. I'm not planning on fighting you for long." I summoned Nuibari and ran to him.

My blade clashed with his weapon. We exchanged blow, him trying to throw spurt of water at me. I dodged them and let them crash in the ground, breaking it even more than it already was. We were done playing games, the attacks were brutal, ruthless and aiming at killing.

Yagura knocked Nuibari away, but I kept the wire in my hand. I slipped it around his club and teleported to my blade. With still the thread in my hand, I threw Nuibari in the wall. It disarmed him and I body flickered to his club and kicked it against the wall, far from us close to the lake.

Yagura's hand closed around my neck, threatening to crush my windpipe at any moment. He threw me in the ground and I couched up blood when the ground broke under my back, staining his cheek red.

"You're...gonna die!" he barked at me in fury. I was struggling to breath, my vision getting blurry by the second. In a desperate attempt, I put my left hand on his seal, covered by his clothes.

In the blink of an eye, I was back in Yagura's mindscap. His arms were crossed on his chest and his face more serious, like I was used to. Isobu was silent behind him.

However, unlike before, I could see a thin blue wall between us. My attention was caught by a crack on my right.

"It's the genjutsu," Yagura explained quickly. "Last time my seal was on the verge of breaking, the genjutsu was too weak to be seen. Now it's different. This is the only crack I managed to do on my side."

"You've done that for years? Just...trying to break a wall?" I whispered in anguish. My heart was aching.

"It doesn't matter Akane. Follow my lead and make sure to use your left arm."

"Yagura..." He closed his eyes.

"I know, I know, but I'm about to strangle you to death. We don't have time anymore."

I nodded weakly and went in front of the crack, like Yagura. I moved my foot back, gathering chakra in my left arm. It was easier than I thought, and purple chakra...no, the Shinigami Claw, like when I took Raiga's soul, appeared. With Yagura, his arm was covered by red chakra.

"One, two...three!" We both slammed our arms in the crack, shattering the wall in one go.

It drained me from my chakra and I was back to reality, Yagura's satisfied smile being the last thing I saw.

The first thing I saw was Yagura's wide eyes. He fell limply at my side and I took a deep breath, rubbing my neck. I would have his fingerprints on my neck, and it already hurt to swallow my own saliva.

For a few seconds, I could only make out the sounds of battle in Kiri in the distance, my own respiration, and Yagura's.

"Huh...it worked..." I opened my eyes wide and turned my head to Yagura, who was snickering weakly. "It feels good...to breath again."

"Ya..." I started in a hoarse voice, but I coughed and spat more blood.

"Yeah...but I'm dead...the way we broke the genjutsu...it...blew up my chakra system...it keeps...decreasing..." With a groan, I turned my body around to get on all four. I grabbed Yagura around his torso and crawled toward the wall. With a grunt of pain, I leaned him against it. "Good...mission accomplished Akane..." A tear ran down my cheek and he smiled softly, blood now dripping from his nose and mouth. "You...you look like...your mother like that..."

"I...sorry..." I managed to croak weakly. Sorry for not doing more, sorry for running away before, sorry for becoming your murderer.

We stayed in silence for another few seconds, until we heard someone running toward us. I blinked away my tears at the sight of Naoto's panicked face.

"Na...oto..." Yagura whispered with difficulty and his son stopped. His lips quivered.

"Dad?" I nodded, like Yagura, and Naoto literaly slid on his knees to us, hugging Yagura like there was no tomorrow. Which was true for the Yondaime. "Dad!"

"Sorry...I'm...sorry..."

"Don't speak, I can feel people com...there's someone else." I frowned and stood up. "Akane, you can't, not in your sta..." I pointed at Yagura, silently telling him to take care of him as I gathered my last strengths to sense the other.

I did.

Obito.

At the highest spot of this training ground.

Okay Akane, deep breath and run.

I grimaced when I moved my leg, my whole body screaming at me to stop, that I fought an Uchiha, a Kage, a jinchurki, a fucking bijuu, but no. I forced myself to run where Obito was, pushing the pain in a corner of my mind for me to deal with later.

When I reached the place, a cliff overlooking the village, there was no Obito. I slowed down and walked to the edge of the cliff, staring at Kiri with wide and hollow eyes.

It was on fire, smoke was everywhere. I could see broken buildings, the damages Isobu did. I could see the lights from the techniques the people fighting were using. An image of the Kaguya clan invading Kiri years ago flashed in my mind.

In front of me was a carnage. It was a war zone, everything I hated, everything that ever made me hate the shinobi system in the first place. Everything that kept me away from it.

Now? Now I was part of it. Now I _caused_ it.

"Isn't that awful?" Obito's voice asked behind me. He stood a few meters behind me and if he was going to attack, I wouldn't be able to fight back. If he wanted to kill me...I was dead. Yet, I wasn't scared.

My eyes were glued to the death show in front of me.

"No matter the side, this is all shinobi know how to do. Death, fights...as long as the shinobi exist, there will be no peace." Where was he going with this? "You've known this since you were a child, where the war took everything from you. You saw your brother die in front of you. Don't you want to put an end to it? See your family happy again?" I finally stopped staring at Kiri, slowly turning around to look at him. "This is the reason I've spent time training you through Yagura. So that you could witness it by being inside the system, not a simple witness."

"What...do you want?"

"I want you to join me. You would be useful for my plan, more useful than these shinobi will ever think of you. I know your worth. Join me."

What?

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to kankananime123, nevvy and NguyetMieu for the reviews. Akane's mother Akiko and Kushina were cousin, so they're both Uzumakis by birth and born in Uzushio. Ushio is half Uzumaki and half Yuki and was born in Kiri. So no, Ushio didn't teach Akiko seals, if anything she knows more about them than him :)**

 **Bye!**


	51. Kiri Battle Arc: Final

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 13**

 **Shisui: 22**

 **Kakashi: 27**

* * *

"Naoto left." Mei looked at her brother, who was done with fixing up Sasuke's shoulder. "Right when the Sanbi was gone once again, he left toward the Mizukage's private training grounds."

"Akane must have transferred the fight over there to..."

"Yo Mei!" She opened her eyes wide and turned around. Outside of the now active barrier around the hospital was Kisame, grinning at them. "It has been a while, hasn't it?"

"Ki...Kisame-san?" Dai stuttered with eyes wide from stupor. Itachi, who just got back with Utakata, frowned at the missing-nin he met before. Said missing-nin waved his huge sword at them.

"I guess I should thank you for letting Mangetsu bite the dust brat, I have my sword back." Dai saw red and got up abruptly, accidentally pushing Sasuke down, and tried to run at the swordsman, only to be caught by his sister.

"Are you trying to make us leave so that we can fight, Kisame? It won't work."

"I thought so too, I took precautions. Going back here has its advantages after all." With a sadistic grin, he threw a body toward the hospital entrance. From the shoulder to the torso, the flesh had been torn apart, only leaving a sea of red over exposed organs. Naruto put his hand over his mouth in disgust.

"Master!" Utaka screamed with tears at the corner of his eyes.

"I just need to activate the bomb inside." With a fierce growl, Utakata let his bijuu take over his body.

"Tenzou!" Kakashi yelled and the anbu ran in front of him.

"Yes! Hokage Style Elder Jutsu: Tenth Edict On Enlightenment!" Wooden pillars surrounded Utakata. However, it was not enough as already five tails were there, sending waves of demonic chakra around.

"Fat..." Itachi started, but stopped when he noticed the different pattern in his father's eyes.

Fugaku jumped in front of the jinchuriki, who now had a purple coat of chakra and was melting the floor with acid, and looked into his eyes. Immediately, Utakata stopped moving and slowly, the chakra enveloping him dispersed, only leaving the shinobi behind. He fainted and fell harshly on the floor.

"Thank you Uchiha-san. Dai, make sure the body is taken care of," Mei ordered as she stepped forward.

"Aneki?"

"Hatake-san, Uchiha-san, I'm trusting you with guarding this place safe." With this she left the barrier and glared down at Kisame. "Shall we now?"

"It's been a while since we had a good fight," Kisame said, pointing the kunoichi with Samehada. "Samehada still remembers the burns."

"I'll make sure to make new ones then." She slowly made hand seals. "I do not wish to harm one of the Seven Swords, but sometimes sacrifices have to be made. Yōton: Lava Monster Jutsu!" Kisame jumped back to avoid the acidic lava Mei spat, but it kept coming. Using his sword, he grunted when Samehada got the bandages around it burned, like some of its scales.

"Yeah yeah, sorry Samehada."

However, after merely a minute, Kisame retreated on top of a building. Mei had been touched at the shoulder and was pressing her hand on her bleeding wound, whereas some spot of Samehada and Kisame's left sleeve were scorched. The shark man shot a look at his glowing ring.

"It seems like fun time is over." On this note, he left. Mei frowned deeply and looked around. There was fire, there was smoke, but overall she was sure the fights were stopping as she could see other black spots jumping away from the village.

"They can't leave unless Ushio managed to get away from Jiraya-sama," she told the people still in the hospital lobby. "I'll go to the training grounds. If Kisame left, it means it's over over there too."

"I'm coming with you, Terumi-san," Kakashi told her as he joined her. She stared at him from the corner of her eyes and nodded.

"Dai, you're in charge of the hospital, Sasuke and Naruto-kun are staying with you! Uchiha-san, Itachi-kun, would you please take care of the Akatsuki?"

Fugaku nodded and left with his son, as Mei and Kakashi ran to the training grounds. On the way, they were joined by other shinobi from the Mist, including Ao and Chōjūrō. At first, when the training grounds were in sight, they were taken back by the state it was in. The first plateau was covered in rubble from the second one, completely destroyed. There was still the smell of smoke and ashes in the air. They went to the third one, and Mei widened her eyes at the sight of Yagura's club and Nuibari, against the wall.

"Mei." They turned their eyes to Naoto, who had an arm around Yagura, who was breathing heavily, almost gasping for air. They all stiffened at the sight of a bloody Yagura. He raised his eyes to them and Mei blinked, running toward them.

"It's gone, the genjutsu...it's gone," she whispered, kneeling next to her fallen Kage.

"Nice...job...Mei..." the Yondaime said with difficulty. He gulped and leaned his head against the wall. "I'm...so pathetic...now..."

"Yondaime, please stop talk..." Naoto shaking his head from right to left made her stop. She furrowed her brows.

"The...the village...will be better with me de...dead...and you as...as the Fifth Mizu...Mizukage." Then, Yagura set his eyes on Kakashi. "Hatake...Kakashi..."

"It is me," Kakashi confirmed and he put a knee in front of the dying man. Yagura stared at him for long seconds.

"Go...get Akane." Naoto pointed and slope behind them. Kakashi nodded and left.

What was Akane doing anyway?

* * *

I stared incredulously at him. Joining the Akatsuki? Was he for real? Did he have his eyes set on me for years? He didn't explicitly say it would be joining the Akatsuki, but it was obvious.

"Wh...why?"

"Your skills will be extremely efficient. I want peace too, I want the fights to stop." I pointed the carnage that was my birth village behind me. "A necessary evil. But...don't you want to see your brother again?"

Huh? Was it how he was planning to coax me into the Akatsuki? Using Fubuki? That was low. So very low.

"Your family before the tragedy? Don't you wish these deaths had never existed?" It was funny because I knew it wouldn't be them I'd see in the Infinite Tsukyomi. No, it would be Aki and Shisui, probably helping Sarada with the Sharingan she probably had today, me watching them with Sakura, who might have had another baby, Sasuke and an alive Itachi in the background. Then, Naruto and Hinata would show up with Himawari and Boruto, and then Kakashi would appear out of nowhere, saying he was bored. That...that would be my dream now.

Huh...maybe...maybe old Obito...had planned on teaming me up with old Itachi but I left before he could truly get me.

"Aren't you tired of all of this bloodshed? You know it won't stop unless the shinobi world realizes it's not the strongest." Yet, now, as he stretched out his hand to me as a sign of truce, the smell of smoke in the air vanished for a second. Why? Because his hand...seemed so tempting right now. Actually, his words were tempting, and if I didn't know the truth behind them...I would probably take his hand. These past three years had taken a toll on me, the biggest in my entire life. What he was saying...sounded so nice.

I gritted my teeth to get these stupid naive thoughts out of my head. It wouldn't work, Obito had no idea what was happening behind the scenes. How could I even think about leaving Naruto to die too?

How could I think, for a second, that Obito was _right_ in wanting to take everybody's will from them?

"Now," Obito started again, stepping forward. I took a step back and opened my eyes wide at the sound of rocks falling under my foot. One more step and I was dead. Obito saw it, because he made another step. Huh, I didn't really have a choice. "Come with me." I shook my head no. "Why? Why do you want to live in that world?"

"Because…" I said painfully. "Because...it's real...people...people die...it hurts but...but it's better than...than what...whatever you want to do. In...in this world...they were themselves...not...not a vision we can have of them...it makes them...real...it...it makes the memories...we have of them...worth all the riches in the world...and...and it makes us...grow...Pain...pain reminds us we're real..." He lowered his hand.

"So this is your answer?" I nodded weakly. "It's the only time I will ask this nicely Akane. Join me."

"You...you've already won today...you've shown you...you were the strongest...made us fight each other..." I was so tired of everybody's shit right now. "Just...leave...leave and let...let us mourn." I blinked sheepishly when a drop of water hit my nose. I raised my head to look at the sky. It was raining again. He made another step, clearly done with the talking now and I was ready to jump from the cliff, which he must have noticed because he stopped.

"Ready to kill yourself and let them deal with the aftermath?"

"Better that than joining you." I raised my brows a little when I felt someone coming. "Kakashi?" I whispered to myself, and Obito tensed.

"He never does what he's supposed to do, does he?" I heard Obito mutter to himself in anger.

But he left in a swirl. A second later, I saw Kakashi's silver hair. I stood there, not moving an inch and stared at him coming closer.

"There you are," he sighed in relief, slowing down at my sight. "What are you doing?" I opened my mouth to speak but coughed and spat blood once again. In the blink of an eye, Kakashi was holding me. Oh...I had started falling forward. "Okay, you're done for the day." I nodded weakly and let him carry me bridal style.

I pressed my cheek against his chest and closed my eyes.

"Does it hurt to talk?" he asked me and I nodded slowly. "Don't fall asleep until the hospital, I can't have you not waking up."

"...'kay." His walk was steady and almost rocked me to sleep. I kept fighting my drowsiness away. After a few minutes, I started hearing voices and I opened my eyes. I rubbed one of them when I thought I saw sensei.

Indeed, there were many shinobi of my village surrounding Yagura, who was still breathing and whispering. Every eyes fell on us, but Kakashi didn't care as he kept going closer to them and crouched so that I was at Yagura's level.

"You're...alive..." I nodded weakly and grabbed his hand in mine, whereas Naoto was still half hugging him. He clenched his hand tightly around mine. "I...sorry..." A tear ran down his cheek.

"I...forgive you..."

"Sorry...for failing as the...the Mizukage..." I clenched his hand tighter and kept staring at him.

He sobbed some more, Naoto hugging him tighter. Then, it started to slow down, and after a few seconds, his hand went lax. I closed my eyes at his relaxed face but wet cheeks.

* * *

"You failed," Ushio told Obito as he appeared next to him. He was spying on the group surrounding Yagura that Kakashi and his daughter had just joined, exhausted and wounded from his fight with Jiraya. Akane seemed on the brink of death. "She wouldn't stay if she knew you were a part of the Akatsuki anyway, I'm here, remember?"

"I wouldn't place her in the Akatsuki yet, and I haven't failed. I failed at getting her willingly. People who suffered from the shinobi world can easily be manipulated through their pain, I'll shatter the wall she built around it and turn her into a loyal pawn of mine."

"Interesting, 'Madara'." Obito looked at Ushio from the corner of his eye. Sarcasm. "What, something wrong with me saying your 'name'?"

"A name is nothing but a name. Could it be you know something about your daughter that I don't?"

"Hmph, do I need to remind you I haven't been a part of her life ever since she was four? It's been a long time."

"Then why placing a seal on her eye to counter my sharingan?" Ushio's eyes became icy.

"When you so kindly freed me from Minato's and Kushina's seal, you told me the Akatsuki would let me do what I wanted as long as I accomplish my mission. It doesn't endanger my mission, so I have no reason to tell you." Ushio didn't blink when he had a kunai at his throat.

"Don't play me Ushio, if you try to hinder my plan..."

"I have no interests in hindering your plan. However, what I do of my daughter is none of your concern." They stared at each other in silence until Ushio turned his head abruptly, not sensing a particular chakra anymore. Naoto hugging his father tightly told him why.

"Does it hurt to see your birth village in that state?"

"I'm not going to answer that. I may have tried something in the past, but controlling a village like you did is still disgusting."

"Like trying to sacrifice your daughter and killing your son when he tried to protect her?" Ushio smirked, and in the blink of an eye only his left eye was opened, his hand firmly around Obito's wrist.

"Don't compare us. I'm not hiding behind my ancestor's identity and I didn't act guided by pure rage and thirst for revenge not once but twice. You attacked your birth village too."

"You..." He tried to use his Mangekyou, but nothing. "What did you do?" he hissed angrily.

"I worked on space-time jutsu with Minato a long time ago, if you think I didn't find a way to counter it you're largely underestimating me. Listen closely, I may be working for the Akatsuki but don't even think about using me as your pawn, _Obito_." The Uchiha tensed. He had had suspicions but now, Ushio was… "You Uchiha _really_ should stop relying so much on your eyes, everything can be sealed. You've awaken a new form of the Sharingan? Good, doesn't change a thing for me. You're still a brat, and if you try to use me like one of those idiots, I'll show you exactly why three hidden villages had to join forces to destroy Uzushio, from where a lot of people still escaped. Trust me on that Obito, the Curse of Hatred of the Uchiha clan makes all of you so easily manipulated that it's not even funny anymore." Ushio let go of his wrist and stopped next to him when he started to leave. "Give me a break."

* * *

"Let him go first." I sent a tired look at my sensei. Kakashi and I were at the end of the group, but said group parted ways to let the stretcher they brought with them go first, Yagura's cold body resting on it. His hand were now crossed on his torso, and the Mizukage hat, that apparently they grabbed on the way, was covering his face. Naoto was on the right, Mei-sensei on the left.

Yes.

After all, Yagura had also been a part of the Resistance on his side, he deserved to be recognized as such.

I nuzzled deeper in Kakashi's jacket, my left hand grasping it tightly. He looked down at me for a second but didn't say anything.

"He was supposed...to be my godfather," I muttered weakly. Kakashi hummed in response.

"They changed when you left the village," he finished for me and I nodded. How ironic was that? The Fourth Mizukage was supposed to be my godfather, but instead it was the Fourth Hokage. "We're reaching the hospital, there is a lot of people in front of it."

"I want...to rest."

"Of course, I'll find Dai for you," he assured me kindly. "No disturbance either I'm guessing?"

"Yes..."

"It is over!" I heard sensei say loudly. "The Fourth Mizukage passed away from the genjutsu being broken! Now, it is time to recover from our wounds! I want all of the healthy shinobi to bring the dead at the hospital and make sure Yagura's followers are all locked up in ANBU HQ for now and under high surveillance! I want all of the wounded to be taken care of!"

"Yes!" was the shared answer.

There was movement, and Kakashi moved too.

"Kakashi-sensei!" I heard my cousin screaming. "Nee-ch..."

"Needs to rest and not see anybody. Shisui, please...actually no, go to the medic. Itachi, make sure Naruto and Sasuke stay away for a while."

"Understood." Yet, I felt their gaze on me.

"Alright, all of you let them breath, let them breath!" Dai told them as we reached what I thought was the lobby. I felt Dai's warm chakra scan me. "Okay, mainly rest then. I'll..." He tried to take me from Kakashi's arms, but I clenched his jacket tighter. "Uzu?"

"I'm sorry Dai, but she won't let go of me in the state she is right now, I can guarantee you. Can I come as well?"

"Well I...guess, if she's not letting go...anyway, this way please."

"But...nee-cha..."

"Naruto, they will take care of her," Itachi told him, and I guess he hold him back too.

"Kakashi-senpai is with them, it will be alright!" Shisui added, but he sounded tired as heck. Still, he tried to cheer him up.

I sighed in relief once my aching body was placed on a bed. Dai's hand immediately went for my neck. I closed my eyes at the soothing chakra.

"Uzu, you can sleep, it's okay, I'm here," my teammate told me. Without a second thought, I did and fell asleep for the first time in twenty four hours.

* * *

"She really took care of the Mizukage on her own," Shisui trailed off, looking at the ceiling of his hospital room. He was sharing said room with Akane's students, Haku and Suigetsu.

"She asked me to help her set the barrier up, and the Rokubi jinchuriki was there too," Itachi said quietly.

"Still, it's...impressive. I wasn't expecting that, she...yeah, she can protect herself just fine." Shisui looked at his cousin and the band aid at his brow. "You're fine?"

"Yeah, we didn't run in a lot of fights unlike you."

"She's still sleeping?"

"Yes. Naruto tried to see her and I went to ask if he could, but Kakashi-san is strict on that. Nobody but Dai-san can enter." Shisui pursed his lips.

"You know, she never told me why she was close with Kakashi-senpai. I mean, thinking about it I'm sure he was the anbu who would pick her up when we were kids, but..." He sighed.

"She...before we went to corner the Mizukage, she told us she had a fight with the rogue Uchiha." Shisui sat up abruptly and winced in pain.

"Wh...what? She saw him?" Itachi blinked blankly at him and nodded. Shisui groaned. "Come on now, she's a trouble magnet that girl. It's an Uzumaki thing."

Itachi looked down. Akane fought the rogue Uchiha but she had been the only one to see him. That man had had no interests whatsoever in trying to keep Kiri under his control, but he ensured he had a chance to face her. He had an ulterior motive, it was obvious, but what?

What was so special about Akane? She was a mixed blood, mostly Uzumaki but her kekkai genkai clearly indicated some Yuki blood in her veins.

He got up and left the room, leaving his cousin watching him leave with his mouth open. The rain was still pouring hard outside, it was impossible to see five meters in front of your nose.

Itachi stopped in an empty hallway and sat against the wall. He knew, from his father and Jiraya-sama, who had been treated for his injuries, that they were heading to an alliance, an official one, with Kiri. It was good, it would mean Akane would officially be their ally. No...no cold Akane like in Konoha, she would be herself again, not forced to act to satisfy the Fourth Mizukage.

It was good.

Everything would be good.

Why didn't he feel that way then?

"Nii-san?" Itachi raised his head to meet his brother's surprise gaze. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing Sasuke, what are you doing?" Sasuke blinked and looked down at the box he was carrying.

"Oh, Dai grabbed me and made me his assistant until people come back from the Land of Wave. They should be here in a week and a half."

"Good then," Itachi whispered to himself. Sasuke stared at his brother, who seemed to be sulking, and searched in his pocket. He pulled out a candy from it and dropped it next to Itachi. "What is that?"

"Someone gave it to me, but I don't like sweets." There was an uncomfortable silence between the two, the only sound being Itachi slowly unwrapping the candy. "So...now it's over, when are you going to talk to nee-san?" Itachi raised his eyes to Sasuke. "I mean, we're going to be allied, so you can fix your relationship before it's too late. I remember you struggling to become her friend when I was a kid, it's..."

"It's not that simple Sasuke," Itachi cut him off. He averted his eyes to the side. "I wish it was...but it's not."

"Just apologize to each other." Itachi smirked a little. Yes, it wouldn't be enough though. "You have the Mangekyou because you thought she died and she kept defending you after your fight, so apologize!" Itachi clenched his fists. She defended him?

"I've never told her I had the Mangekyou." He didn't even correct her when she clearly said he didn't have it during the fight. What would it accomplish with the situation between them? Making it worse? If Akane knew he cared enough about her for him to awake his Mangekyou in both eyes but still raised his hand against her and terrified her, wouldn't she just feel worst? He knew he did. "And I am not planning on doing it."

"Why?"

"None of us will be better after." Sasuke frowned and Itachi stood up, popping the candy in his mouth. "When are you going to confront Naruto Sasuke?" His younger brother averted his eyes to the side. "I see."

"It's more complicated." Itachi poked him in the forehead. Sasuke rubbed the sore spot with a scowl on his face, watching his brother leaving. He stopped a few meters from him, his hands in his pockets.

"Once we're in Konoha, I'll tell you everything Sasuke. You will be fourteen in a few months, it's not fair to you to keep avoiding the subject." Sasuke blinked at his brother's back. "We should have stopped keeping you in the dark when you became a genin."

"What about Father?"

"It doesn't matter what he thinks, you have as much rights to know what happened as any other Uchiha. You're not a child anymore, you don't need as much protection as you used to." With that and the small smile on Sasuke's lips, Itachi left.

Sasuke wasn't a child anymore. He could handle things and truths, and if he had trouble to, then he was there to help him.

* * *

"Exhaustion, it was obvious, and Karin treated the minor internal bleeding in the stomach and the bruises you had. From the fights that followed, some minor burns but a more important one on your neck, a broken rib, a huge bruise on your back and your esophagus and trachea suffered from bruises too, but I made sure the blood vessels were healed first so that you don't drown in your own blood in your sleep," Dai explained to me after two days spent in a dreamless sleep. I yawned and winced at my aching throat. "Yeah, with the state your body was in, I healed the most urgent wounds and left the others to heal naturally, including your throat. I stopped the bleeding, that's all, so shut the hell up until I tell you otherwise, got it?" I nodded and glared halfheartedly at Kakashi who snickered.

"If I had known I just needed to do that to shut you up, I would have done it a long time ago," he mused, reading his book.

"No solid food either until I give the green light Uzu." I nodded and glanced at the window of my hospital room. It was still raining. "Hey, would you mind it if your cousins come and see you? I know you're not in a talking mood right now, but Naruto is driving me insane and Haku...well..." I opened my eyes wide and ran a finger on my throat. Dai looked down. "You want to know the casualties? Well...Mangetsu," he started in a quiet and pained voice. The lump came back full force in my throat. He wouldn't stop by to see how I was doing, he wouldn't try to draw seals with me to help, he wouldn't spar with me anymore...he was gone. "Harusame-san was killed by Kisame, that's why the lobby is destroyed, Utakata saw it and lost it. Well...the group that went to the Kage building fought against two of these Akatsuki guys and...Zabuza died and gave his sword to Suigetsu in his last breath. Except for them, you don't really know them." I opened my mouth but nothing came. Zabuza-san was...Zabuza-san was...I looked at Kakashi for confirmation and the look in his eye was enough. I totally understood what he was trying to tell me too.

Haku was destroyed right now. If it wasn't for me, he would have had a Chidori through his chest months ago.

"Uzu...did you notice anything between Aneki and Zabuza?" Dai asked me and I blinked in confusion. "No then? Crap, I'm pretty sure there was something between them, she withdrew into herself since she saw his body." He sighed and slid my file under his arm. "I'll go tell Naruto and Haku they can come then." He left swiftly, the door shutting quietly behind him.

I grunted as I sat up and mimed at Kakashi. He rose his eyebrow and got up, his book still open under his nose.

"Something for writing?" I nodded and he sighed. "I'm not your slave." I joined my hands and tried my puppy eyes, but he didn't budge. "I'm not sensei Akane, I see through this." In the end, he still left my room, muttering what a demon I still was after so many years, and a small smile appeared on my lips.

When Fubuki died, Kakashi had me in his arms, back to Dad's attack and fully ready to take the blow to protect me. I didn't let go of him for a while because of the trauma. It was because of that I was glued to Kakashi right now.

He was still safety in my head.

Yet, there were still lots of dead. Lots of people I knew. I failed at helping Mangetsu and...I gritted my teeth, my fists weakly grasping the sheet on me.

I murdered Yagura.

I...I murdered the father figure I had for the longest time in my life. No matter how hard it was to realize, Yagura had been a father figure.

My train of thoughts was cut short by the door opening. Naruto searched my eyes for a second and upon seeing me awake and my small smile, he snorted loudly and ran to me, his face in my lap. I ran my hand in his hair and looked at Haku, still at the door. His eyes were hollow and his walk was mechanical. I gestured him to come on the other side of my bed. He closed the door behind him and did. He stayed straight as a ramrod in his chair for a couple of seconds, but I took his chin between my fingers to make him look at me. He blinked when his brown eyes met mine, and his bottom lip started to quiver. The first tear appeared and soon, he was crying against my collarbone. I gazed softly at him and put my free arm around him, pulling him closer.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Naruto raising his head to look at Haku. A sympathetic glint in his blue eyes and he properly sat next to me on the bed, one arm around my shoulder, the other around Haku. Like this, Haku was completely surrounded by two silent Uzumakis, who were just there to let him cry his pain out in peace.

Later, when Kakashi came by and saw my two cousins sleeping on each side of me, he left the notebook and pen on the nightstand before leaving in a soundless body flicker.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to kankananime123, nevvy and NguyetMieu for the reviews. Yeah, bad guys have a thing for asking the main characters to join them, almost as if they needed to do that to prove they were the bad guys x). As for Itachi, Akane is the Seal Master hired by the Uchiha clan and he's the heir, he knows she knows a lot of things about his clan, except for the coup of course. Annnnd, there's a lot of Itachi coming.**

 **Merry Christmas!**

 **Bye!**


	52. Sealing Arc: Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 13**

 **Shisui: 22**

 **Kakashi: 27**

* * *

"Sage Mode indeed," Jiraya-san confirmed as I was visiting him in his hospital room. "I understand why Minato got hurt, it was more than just caring. Ushio was legitimate in being considered for the job of Mizukage." He looked down at my left arm, bare for once. "So, that's how you reached Yagura then. And it works with jinchuriki in general?" I nodded and started to put my bandages back on. "Interesting, Uzushio destruction really made us lose a lot of knowledge we could use today." I wrote 'Orochimaru' on my notebook. Jiraya-san blinked. "Orochimaru? Oh, I see, you think he could go in Uzushio and try to find information about the Shinigami and his arms?" I patted my stomach. "Right, it would be bad if the Akatsuki knew about you, but Orochimaru too." I sighed deeply. Hiding me being a Yurei was easier before, the more time goes by, the more dangerous people will realize there's something off about me. Sensors knew my chakra was weird anyway. I wrote down if Jiraya-san had a trip planned with Naruto. "Yes, Kiri delayed it but I'll take him with me for at least two years. It should be safe, I don't think the Akatsuki will show themselves for a while, I'll use that time to train him so that he can defend himself properly." I nodded and grabbed my crutch to get up. My legs were fine, but even after nine days I still needed rest so I had a crutch since three days prior.

With a wave, I left his room to go back to mine. It was still raining outside, less but it was constant. Ever since I woke up, I was waiting for Mei-sensei to tell me it was time to seal Isobu. To this day, nothing, Dai ignored my questions and I was left in the dark to rest and grieve.

It had been a very long while since I mourned someone. The last one had been...old Itachi? Old Mangetsu too, but it was six years after his death, whereas old Itachi…

I sighed as I got closer to my room. I used to be so used to mourn people…

"Akane, please open the door!" I raised a brow and leaned my head around the corner. Shisui was pounding on my door, Itachi silent next to him, hands in his pockets. "Itachi's sorry and I'm innocent, stop ignoring us!"

"Shisui!" Itachi hissed, finally looking at his cousin. I deadpanned at them.

I was behind them. A few meters away, but behind them. Normally, I would have find that hilarious to see Shisui losing his calm in front of a door, calling for me whereas I was somewhere else. However, the room wasn't empty.

Haku was in it. He hadn't said anything since I woke up, but he didn't want to leave my room. In consequences, Naruto was also squatting my room, and Sasuke sneaked in once, pissed nobody but family and Dai was allowed. Kakashi too, but he fell in the family category, and Sasuke reminded me he should be put in that category too.

So far, he was the only Uchiha I dealt with and it was heaven.

I couldn't and didn't want to deal with them right now, be it the awkwardness with Itachi or Shisui's protectiveness and how he'd try to fix things up with Itachi.

Haku was in my room though, and I didn't want anyone to bother him right now. I looked down at my attire. My light blue robe was tied around my waist, my pajamas were not visible and my gray slippers didn't make a lot of noise.

Apparently, my apartment was half destroyed and it was some of the things left.

"Come on Akane, answer I know you're in there!" Right, I was in there you moron. "I'll punch Itachi for you if you want!" Said Itachi narrowed his eyes at his cousin.

I took the pen from my notebook and it was enough for Itachi to turn his head to me. I blinked at him, he blinked at me and pinched the bridge of his nose, probably cussing Shisui in his head. I gestured him to move on the side, which he did.

"It..." Shisui started when he noticed Itachi inching away. He barely spun around to see me that my pen landed in his forehead. "AOUCH!" Huh, and people made fun of my aim. "What the...Akane?" I rolled my eyes at him, walking up to them. I picked up my pen. "But...but who's in your room then?" I wrote down 'Haku' and showed him. "You're not talking now?"

"Shisui, look at her throat," Itachi sighed, with us once again. Shisui widened his eyes at the sight of the purple finger prints on my neck. "It must have been the Mizukage, right?" I nodded, looking at Itachi from the corner of my eyes. His face was completely blank, like mine.

I quickly wrote down Dai ordered me to shut up until he told me otherwise. Shisui frowned and crossed his arms over his chest.

"He's supposed to be a medic, he should be nicer." I smiled a little. Shisui knew Dai was right to tell me this but he was still cursing him just for the act. Seriously, boys. Kimou was right. "Ha, made you smile! So, can we come in?" I shook my head 'no'. "Wh...do you have any idea how annoying it is to have Sasuke bragging on how he got in your room whereas it's supposed to be family only? And why is Haku even here? He…oh, you're related?...No, if you told me I don't remember it." He raised his hands in surrender as I threatened him with my notebook. "Sorry, sorry!" I lowered my notebook, narrowed eyes still on him. He stared at me for a second and chuckled. I frowned, but my frown disappeared when he took me in his arms. "Sorry, it's just...it's kinda like before and I missed it." I sighed softly and patted his back.

Then, without warning, he stepped back and pushed me on the side. I stumbled and my notebook and crutch fell on the floor as my face ended up in Itachi's torso. His arms moved on their own and were secured around my waist.

"Shisui!" Itachi scolded him. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, just hug it out and be friends again!"

Itachi tensed. Crap, he felt it. He felt how tensed I was, being so close to him. Without a word, he made sure I was stable and let go of me. He even gave me my stuff back and then put some distance between us. I dared looking at him for a second and he was staring at the floor.

I hit Shisui on the head and, with one last glare, got into my room and slammed the door behind. Haku turned glassy eyes to me.

"Stop it Shisui." I heard Itachi say. "Just...stop it."

"But you've struggled just to get her to talk to you, it's..."

"She's terrified of me," he interrupted him sharply. It was true, he didn't break a sweat when he almost broke my wrist. But more than that, I didn't want...it was useless to try to be friends. Why give him potential guilt if he were to kill if I did something bad?

Only God knew how Obito's words had been tempting for a second, and it kept haunting me at night.

"Itachi..." I almost couldn't hear them anymore.

"She's terrified of me," he repeated more quietly, probably to himself.

Yet, I felt awful knowing I was hurting another friend.

I wasn't mad at him, he was a shinobi, it was his job, and fuck I despised how good he was at his job. But I fucked up on a personal level and that…

I went back in bed. I wondered how it was going with sensei. Apparently, she went to the Daimyo with Ao-san to settle some...official things on how there had been a successful coup d'état in Kiri?

"When will the sealing occur?" Haku asked me suddenly, voice void of any emotion. I shrugged, not knowing the answer. "I see." I opened my arms to him. He stared, not saying anything, and after the longest minute of my life where I felt like a huge moron, he inched closer and let me hug him.

He didn't return my hug either. Zabuza-san had mentioned how Haku could be suicidal, heck Naruto had told me he was worried just yesterday because that day on the bridge, we all knew what would have happened without my intervention that caused Kakashi to be pissed at me.

I hugged him tighter.

I wanted him to see us like a family, I wanted him to know we cared about him.

I wished to be sure the last months, almost a year, spent with us made him see that.

* * *

" _What will it be today?"_

" _Oh dear, just a green tea. I'm not in the mood for sweets, unfortunately." I nodded at the elderly customer I had and went to get her some tea. She thanked me with a sad sigh when I placed the fuming cup in front of her. "My...you're a young one, aren't you?"_

" _I just turned twenty-one, so I guess," I replied with a polite smile, my tray against my stomach._

" _Then tell me, would you be in a serious relationship with a shinobi?" I was taken back. It had been what, three months since Itachi finally decided I was his and his only? He was home right now, was it a sign for some deep conversations tonight?_

" _I...I mean...if they're in love…?"_

" _See, my daughter has met that shinobi from Iwa and she doesn't want to see the truth. She keeps saying they're going to get married and have a family but she knows his job will make her unhappy. There is no future ahead, why doesn't she get it?" I smiled sadly._

" _Maybe she knows but just wants to enjoy the time they have together?" She scoffed._

" _A good waste of time it is."_

 _I tried to keep that conversation out of my mind for the rest of the day, but it didn't work. As I walked home in the streets of the town I worked, the red beam of the sun illuminating the sky and buildings, I couldn't keep my mind from thinking about that grandma's point of view._

 _I stopped to buy some dango. The weird thing was, the more I was getting closer to my place, the slowest I was. Once I was in front of the door, I put a hand on my heart. Why was I stressing so much? It was Itachi, just good old Itachi. Good old no possible future deadly sick I want to die Itachi._

 _Falling in love with a random sweet guy, have two kids with a house and one or two pets and then die of old age was out of the table huh…_

" _I'm home," I said quietly when I entered. I stared, dumbfounded, at Itachi staring at me as if I had witnessed him doing something he didn't want me to see._

 _He was cooking. It was an odd contrast between him, an internationally wanted criminal, and the mess in my kitchen._

" _You were supposed to come back at seven," he stated flatly, almost accusing me of coming home early._

" _We closed earlier, personal issues with the boss. What are you doing? Wait, where did you get salmon?"_

" _Where I got it," he replied, watching me going next to him._

" _Ochazuke with salmon and miso soup?" I inquired and he nodded. "Did you put the salmon directly in the miso soup to marinate it?" He frowned at his dish._

" _No." He looked angry at himself and I swore he was cursing himself in his head. I smiled softly and leaned my head on his shoulder._

" _You're killing me slowly after all," I whispered to myself._

" _What did you say?" he asked me quietly, tearing his eyes away from the bland salmon. I tip-toed and kissed his cheek._

" _Nothing, nothing. I bought dangos if you want some later." His eyes found the plastic bag I had in my hand. He was such a sweet tooth._

 _We ate in silence. He wasn't such a talker and I was in no mood to talk right now. In the end, the meal was still good. Would he ever fail at something one day?_

" _You're strangely quiet tonight," he noticed as he placed a cup of Oolong tea in front of me on my coffee table, a cup of green tea in his other hand. I stayed quiet as he sat down next to me on the couch. He was about to grab a book Minato-oji had gifted me before I left Konoha. Jiraya-san wrote it, it was called_ The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi _._

" _Is it good?" Itachi blinked and looked at the book. "It's different from these porn books, right? Oji-chan wouldn't have offered it to me otherwise."_

" _I like it," he answered blandly. Then, he raised a brow at me. "What happened today? You're weird."_

" _Just because I'm not in the mood for talking I'm weird?" He took my chin between his fingers and made me look in his eyes. He didn't want to joke around._

" _Your eyes, they're distant. You're concerned about something, enough for you not to kiss me when you came back from work," he explained quietly._

" _Do I kiss you every time?" I asked with surprise. Did I? He nodded without an ounce of hesitation. I sighed. "It's...nothing, really. It's just something a customer said today."_

" _Hn." He kept my chin between his fingers though. "It's not nothing Akane, what was it?"_

" _It just...scared me, that's all." Itachi fully turned me toward him and inched closer to me. "You won't like it Itachi, can we drop it? It will be better tomorrow." He didn't budge, his hands now on my arms. "She...she just told me she didn't understand why her daughter would try to have a relationship with a shinobi when it wouldn't have any future." He perfectly understood what I was implying and why I was spacing out, because the small spark or warmth, always so well hidden in his eyes, went out._

" _I see." I bit my bottom lip and lowered my head._

" _I'm sorry, it's just...I'm tired of losing people I love and today, you're the only person I love and...I know one day you'll walk out that door and it will be the last time and...I...it makes me wanna cry..." I snorted loudly. "It just...hurts. I'm happy when we're together, but one day the bubble will pop and it will hurt too." As I talked, he slipped his arms around my waist and pulled me against his chest. My ear was pressed against it, and all I could hear was his beating heart. How long before it stopped completely?_

" _Do you want me to leave then? Do you...want to stop?" I sighed softly against him and hugged him back, as tightly as I possibly could._

" _Did you forget the part where I said I loved you? I don't want you to go, it's just me being depressed by reality. If you leave for good now...it will hurt too, I don't want that, I want you for as long as you'll allow me." He buried his face in the crook of my neck, one of his hand going to the back of my head and in my hair._

" _Akane..." he whispered against my skin, making me shiver._

 _I knew Itachi wasn't talkative, I knew he didn't show his emotions. Yet, I also knew that when he pronounced my name, he was trying to tell me everything he couldn't say out loud._

 _I looked at my kitchen, where dinner was still on the counter. He knew we didn't have any future together too._

 _But he was trying to...trying to make sure the time we had together was perfect. Maybe he wanted me to have good memories of him._

 _He was trying though, and that alone was worth everything to me._

 _I straightened up and pressed my lips against his softly. I could feel him ease up a little as he kissed me back slowly._

" _Here, better now?" I asked him with a small smile. He opened his eyes slowly and I couldn't help but be proud of myself at the spark of warmth coming back._

" _Hn." I wrapped my arms around his neck._

 _Sometimes, I wondered how Itachi turned out how he turned out. Shisui trusted him with his life and I trusted Shisui's judgment with my life. There was no way Itachi had always been this withdrawn. Shisui wouldn't have let him, I just knew it._

 _What then?_

I opened my eyes, Haku's sleeping face in front of mine. Strange. Was the situation with Itachi so bothering that it brought back that kind of memories now? The beginning of the end?

At least, now, I knew he really was trying to make me happy and give me what I secretly wanted in the short time we had together.

I smirked.

Yeah, I still had these memories. But the spark of warmth I was always so proud to see...this Itachi wasn't, didn't need to hide it from everybody. I wished I had old Itachi to tell me why he bothered coming back the first time, because it would help me know.

It would help me know if the decision forming in my mind, no matter how painful it would be, was the good one.

* * *

"Ahhhhhhhh…I'm a super doper kunoichi."

"You took drugs?" I winked at him, my hand rubbing my throat.

"I still have some in my body, don't I?" He sighed.

"Goodbye peace and quiet." I smirked and got up, opening the closet of my hospital room. I saw Karin earlier and she told me Sakura came back with them to be with her team, but that apart from that, the other teams had started to leave for Konoha after two intensive months.

"Where will it be?" Dai looked at Haku with pursed lips.

"There's a lake in the forest, to the north of Kiribukai. Aneki got the Daimyo's permission to set up a perimeter."

"That's why she's been there then."

"Other than saying 'Yo, we don't have a Kage anymore and half the village is destroyed if you don't help us you'll look like a fool for not having a functional Hidden Village?'? Yeah. Ah, and officially getting that hat too."

"Girl power." Right.

It was official.

Mei-sensei had been appointed as the Fifth Mizukage by an overwhelming majority. Everybody was glad Yagura was…

I swallowed the lump in my throat. No, not that, not yet, I couldn't break down just yet. After the sealing.

After the sealing I would be free to mourn all of them.

I went to the bathroom to get dressed. Dai got me new clothes, but surprisingly enough, my haori was fine. Huh, Uzumakis. They put seals on it to keep it intact in battles.

"But Uzu..." Dai trailed off when I was out of the bathroom, fully dressed and tying my holster to my thigh. "Is it really okay to have used your last two chakra seals like that?"

"Yeah, now my chakra is almost full. It's enough. The one thing that is worrying me is Isobu's state when he'll be ba...What?"

"Nothing, it's just weird to know they have names like us." I snorted.

"Well, people don't call you 'that medic from the Mist' right?"

"True."

"Back to what I was saying, after being controlled for ten years, I'm going to force his resurrection instead of letting it happen naturally. He'll most likely be disoriented, confused and will feel like everybody's is his enemy. Subtlety is the key."

"That's why you're the captain of the sealing team and only the best in chakra control in the village are a part of the team, I know." I eyed him sharply.

"Will it be okay if you're not at the hospital? It might take a few days."

"It's fine, and I'm not letting you sealing a bijuu on your own. No...no separation anymore, got it?" I looked down at the floor and Dai knocked me on the head. "Don't give the floor that look, he wouldn't like that at all."

"I know."

"Be at the north entrance in an hour, Haku you as well. I'll gather the others." He left on that note and I turned around to look at Haku. Still...emotionless.

"Are...are you ready?"

"Yes." He was talking, it was good but...still emotionless.

* * *

Unlike what people thought, he wasn't stupid.

Naruto watched his clone leaving to go with the group from Konoha about to leave the village. He wanted to see his sister before leaving and ask her when she would come to Konoha. He was fully aware she wouldn't move back with them, that she would stay here. The state Kiri was in was worst than Konoha after Orochimaru, and his sister was more important than anyone anticipated.

Her sensei just became the Mizukage! If Kakashi-sensei ever became the Hokage, he would be important too.

Naruto snorted, trying to hold his laughter back. Kakashi-sensei with the Hokage hat...hilarious.

Anyway, he went to his sister's room but stopped next to the door when he heard voices. Akane was talking again and it was comforting to hear her voice again, but there was also Haku's, and Naruto had smiled to himself. Akane was his sister, Haku was related to her so Haku was his brother too.

However, he froze when he heard what they were talking about.

His sister was going to seal the Sanbi in his brother.

He stood still behind the door for long minutes and hid when they left it. Akane looked around her and nodded to Haku, the two leaving without noticing him. In his head, Naruto was relieved she had been stuck in the hospital for days, because otherwise she would have noticed him. Haku too.

They must have been too concerned to notice him, and it was in his favor. He trailed them through the destroyed streets of Kiri, where people were already re-building the most important buildings in the misty rain.

They stopped at the north entrance, where Naruto and his group had infiltrated the village before. There was a big group.

"Alright guys, we're heading to the lake to the north of Kiribukai! From now on, you're listening to me, if I tell you to keep quiet and stay put, you do as a say with no questions asked!" his sister stated with authority. "If I'm down, you respond to Ao-san and Dai, got it?" The group nodded. He was right, his sister was _too_ important to leave Kiri, no matter how sad it made him. "If nobody has questions, then let's go."

"Yes!" On this note, they all left the village. Naruto briefly looked back. He was supposed to go back to Konoha.

But his family was about to get into another dangerous situation, and maybe he could convince Akane not to turn Haku into…

Naruto clenched his fists tightly and gritted his teeth.

He loved his comrades and his village, he knew he would be yelled at when would be back in Konoha.

Yet, as he kept following the group from Kiri, his only thought was to stay by his family's side.

He wouldn't be left behind again.

"Here, this is a message for the Hokage," Mei told Jiraya as she gave him a scroll. Her hat was still on her head.

"I can't believe she didn't come," Shisui sighed deeply. "You bet that stupid Dai just kept her all to himself. I can't stand that guy."

"Sure," Itachi replied idly. "What a monster he is for being her medic." Shisui weakly glared at him.

"Instead of digging my own grave even deeper, go talk to Izumi. Did something happen with her too?" Itachi raised a brow at him.

"I didn't tell you," he whispered to himself. "I broke up with her before leaving for Kiri." Shisui gaped at him comically, shot her a look, and took his cousin apart.

"What? Why?"

"I'm not in love with her?" Itachi replied dryly, fidgeting his arm to get rid of Shisui's hand. "It's really not a subject I want to talk about right now."

"I get it, but you break up with Izumi and have a fall out with Akane? Did the female community do something to you?" Itachi rolled his eyes. "I mean, I'm not different because I broke up with Erisa barely a day after Akane left Konoha but still..." Shisui raised his brows when Itachi stared curiously at him. "What?"

"You've had a lot of girlfriends but none of them made you forget her." The oldest blushed at that.

"Well...well..." He cleared his voice and looked down, a fond smile on his lips. "She's one of a kind."

Itachi couldn't agree more.

"Naruto!" Sakura screamed at the top of her lungs, punching her teammate. However, Naruto popped in a puff of smoke. Everybody stared at it and Jiraya face-palmed.

"That stupid brat ran off again," the Sannin muttered.

"Where could he be?" Kakashi wondered out loud. Mei shared a knowing look with Naoto, who left in a body flicker. "Mizukage-sama, do you have an idea?"

"I hope I'm wrong." It wasn't long before Naoto came back, a frown on his face.

"He's definitely following them."

"Please tell me he's following a group of people going to hot springs and not Akane's sealing group," Jiraya muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. The apologetic smile Mei sent him made him growl.

"Sealing?" Sasuke repeated quietly.

"Jiraya-sama, we are not supposed to take part in the sealing of the Sanbi," Fugaku told him with a strict frown.

There was a long silent and Kakashi grabbed Sasuke's collar before he could go too far.

"Hey there, you've been doing your own stuff for a while Sasuke, you're staying there."

"I apologize, but the only thing I can let you do is staying in the village a little bit longer. You can't intrude on the sealing process."

"Why not?" Sakura asked with a puzzled look on her face. Kakashi looked down at her.

"A bijuu is considered as a weapon for a Hidden Village. Its sealing and the identity of the jinchuriki is usually a secret, and even if Konoha helped in taking Kiri back, we are not officially allied yet."

"Jinchuriki?" she repeated.

"The host of the bijuu, like Naruto with the Kyuubi," Sasuke hissed at her, irritated at her lack of knowledge. He glared at the others staring at him. "What?"

"How do you know that?" his father inquired codly.

"I figured it out, he lost control last time," Sasuke replied, as cold as his father.

"Naoto, please follow them, try to bring Naruto-kun back if possible."

"Understood Mizukage-sama."

"Mizu...he left already," Mei sighed.

"I'm sorry for my student Mizukage-sama," Kakashi apologized, bowing to her. She raised her hands in front of her with an embarrassed smile on her lips.

"Don't worry, I understand how...an Uzumaki is hard to...teach...I've had my fill when Akane was younger," she added more quietly. "However...how convincing is Naruto-kun exactly?"

"He can be very convincing when he wants to," Shisui pipped up, his lips set in a firm line. "And I've seen for myself that if he finds the good arguments, Akane won't send him back." He shrugged when Itachi sent him a look. "What? And even if she managed to send him back, she wouldn't let him go back to Kiri on his own and I really don't think they have the time for that."

"True. I'm going to kill these brats," Jiraya stated with exasperation.

In the forest, Akane and Haku had separated themselves from the sealing group. Dai had a marked kunai in case, but for now, they were opposed to another problem.

"Care to explain?" Akane asked coldly, pulling Naruto's ear.

"I heard you in the hospital, I'm not letting you turning Haku in a jinchuriki!" Naruto protested, fidgeting to break free. She raised a brow and let go of his ear, that he cradled carefully.

"You came to stop us?" she summed up, her hands on her hips. "Weren't you supposed to go back to Konoha today?"

"I sent a clone and don't change the subject the subject! Haku will be hated by everyone if you do it nee-chan!"

"I'm aware how jinchuriki are treated, I ended up in custody back in Konoha if you remember well."

"Then..."

"Naruto," Haku cut him off flatly, "Uzu-nee is doing it against her will." Naruto blinked sheepishly at him.

"Heh?" Akane sighed.

"Really Naruto? You think I would enjoy turning my cousin into a jinchuriki? I would have done it to myself but sensei refused. She's right in thinking I'm not the right person for the job and Haku is more than compatible with Isobu's chakra. If it were just me, I would let him come back naturally and roam around freely. I don't fancy what I'm about to do at all, I don't want to condemn Haku to that situation and I don't want to take away Isobu's freedom."

"Who's Isobu?"

"The Sanbi. Yeah, they have name," she said quickly when he barely had opened his mouth. "I mean, calling them 'Sanbi' or 'Kyuubi' is like you being called 'the Konoha jinchuriki'." She stopped and face-palmed. "Now I'm saying too much."

"Why do you know so much about that nee-chan?" Naruto asked her in a more serious tone.

"I just do. Look, the Akatsuki is after the bijuu, you know that, you've witnessed that. I don't want that to happen to Isobu, I promised him I would protect him and no matter how annoying it is, a jinchuriki bijuu combo is more powerful that a bijuu alone. They have the power, but a shinobi has the training."

"...I don't get it."

"If I work with Isobu-kun, it will be harder for him to be taken. It's to protect him, and I agree and accept the consequences of becoming a jinchuriki." Naruto stared at him, dumbfounded. Then, he clenched his jaw.

"But...aren't they just monsters?" His sister frowned.

"Do you say that because of the Kyuubi?"

"Well yeah, he's always angry and saying he'll break free! Gaara too..."

"Still, they show emotions, don't they?" she asked more softly, crouching in front of him. He came to keep them from sealing the Sanbi, not get a lecture on the Kyuubi. "If you were used as a weapon and then locked somewhere, forced to witness how human beings and shinobi are destroying themselves, wouldn't you be pissed too?" He blinked. He hadn't think about it that way.

Actually, nobody ever told him anything about the Kyuubi before he attacked the village.

He couldn't help but find something weird though. Even if Akane believed in what she was saying, Naruto couldn't help but think it wasn't really her words, but more like something someone told her once.

"Will you let us go now?" She got up and looked at him expectantly. He nodded slowly. "Good, Haku let's...crap, there's no way you'll find your way back and who knew in what kind of shitty situations you could get into."

"Hey!"

"It's dangerous to let him come though."

"I know but..." She didn't finish her sentence, opting instead for showing him with her arms. "Heee...what do you suggest then?" Haku shot him a glance, eyes still as hollow as before. "We go and I'll let Dai handle it. We're already late enough as it is." She spun around to give him a harsh look. "And you, follow orders."

On this note, she cut her thumb open and slammed her hand on the grass, summoning Seihitsu.

"Yo Seihitsu, please get us to Dai as fast as you can," Akane asked her summon, Naruto and Haku climbing behind her. Haku had just enough space for him. "Alright kids, let's go now."

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to Ederisu, machiaveIIian and NguyetMieu for the Harusame, Utakata's master, Zabuza and Mangetsu died. The seal Ushio is referring to is the one that kept him trapped in Uzushio for years, and when I re-read the chapter I also wondered what I meant by 'fat' x). **

**And yes, Obito got owned and how good it felt to write it!**

 **Bye!**


	53. Sealing Arc: Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 13**

 **Shisui: 22**

 **Kakashi: 27**

* * *

I liked my plans to go smoothly. If there was one thing old Itachi's entire life _and_ death taught me though, was that plans never go as planned. The look Dai was giving me as I entrusted Naruto to him was proof him and I were on the same page.

Always expect the unexpected.

"So, the perimeter…?"

"We're ready, Harusame-san's barrier is ready to be used." Right...Harusame-san had prepared everything while I was busy.

"Got it, let's get to work then."

I ran on the lake.

One, bring Isobu back.

Two, get a sample of his chakra for the back-up seal.

Three, calm him down and basically, seal him.

Easier said than down.

The lake was big, surrounded by a dense forest. There was barely any mist and I could easily see the cliff in the back. A weak breeze blew my hair as I created an ice platform thick enough so that the current did not move it. I grabbed my brush and ink and started tracing symbols of my ice. Once it was done, now my symbols forming a cross with an empty space at the center, I placed the sample of Isobu's chakra in the center.

I jumped back on the lake and executed hand seals.

"Fuinjutsu: Chakra Seal Release!" I said loudly.

Red bubbling chakra started to leave the paper tag. My hands formed the Snake seal. The four lines of symbols glowed purple and rose from the ice line ropes still attached to the paper tag. Then, they dived into the tag.

I gritted my teeth and my fingers twitched when I felt my seal gripping at Isobu deep in the tag. I moved my leg back and ended up putting a knee one the water to keep me stable.

"Come on Isobu," I muttered, a drop of sweat on my temple as my jutsu barely made him move. "Come on, get out of here."

I got chills when there was an animal roar coming from the tag. Then, it was like pulling at a loose thread on a sweater that would be ruined after.

It was easy and fast, and I took a deep breath as the first tail was in sight, then the other two and Isobu's entire body. He landed in the water brutally and the current changed, becoming more violent. The ice platform was sent meters away and crashed in the lake as I was constantly adapting my chakra flow to keep standing on the water.

There wasn't a sound for long minutes, not even a bird chirping could be heard. I stood up at my full height and started sensing.

I body flickered away just before one of his tail whipped the air where I was standing.

Shit, he was exactly how I thought he would be. Confused, angry and scared, lashing out at anything and anyone in sight. Face to the sky, he let a powerful roar out.

"Isobu, calm down!" I yelled at him. He stopped and his lone eye found mine. I hunched my shoulders.

I teleported to Haku when he shot a water ball that crashed in the barrier, shaking it violently.

"Alright, Haku and Naruto with me."

"Seriously!?" Naruto exclaimed with shock. I nodded at him.

"You have more chakra than any of us. Clones will be a distraction. Stay close to Haku or I, I don't want to ruin the alliance just yet."

I ran back on the lake, my cousins hot on my hills.

"What's the plan?" Haku asked me at my side.

"Immobilize him and get a sample from his chakra. I'm not going to just seal him in you, there's a safety in it."

Isobu spotted us and all hell broke loose. Naruto made a bunch of clones first, who attacked with the Rasengan while the real one stayed by my side. While Isobu was busy with the clones and the smoke they made when they vanished, Haku started to make his Crystal Ice Mirror. I shared a look with him when he left to go inside one of them.

"You'll breath underwater," I announced to Naruto as I put a seal on his mouth. I did the same to me and teleported us to where Haku was, behind his mirror. I grabbed Naruto and made us fall in the water.

Okay think. Haku was distracting him above but he wouldn't hold on forever. If only we could disrupt him.

Of course!

I nudged Naruto, showed him my opened hand, mimed a ball in it and then a whirlpool. He stared at me for a second with confusion, blinking rapidly and then hit his fist in his palm. I nodded when he mimed a shadow clone and the Rasengan.

I swam under Isobu with Naruto, making sure we were deep enough in the water to be out of Isobu's reach. Naruto made a clone and started the Rasengan, just enough to make a whirlpool. Isobu's started fidgeting and I froze him. Haku must have had the same idea because he stopped moving.

I shot a look at Naruto, who mimed the Fuuton jutsu I taught him and us doing it against Isobu to turn him over. Well, it was worth a shot, maybe it would give us enough time to reason with him.

I swam further away from my little brother and, with a nod, we both used the High Wind Technique.

Heh, who knew, we did turn him over.

We swam up and got on the water, Haku quickly joining and catching his breath.

"We're awesome dattebayo!"

"Yeah, don't cry victory too early Naruto. Stay here." I walked stiffly toward Isobu's neck. He wasn't moving but was whimpering like a hurt animal. I felt a pang at my heart at this sound. "Hey now Isobu-kun, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry but please calm down. It's me, it's Red-chan." His whimpers got quieter. "Yeah, that's right. We met before, we met with Yagura."

What happened next was a blur. Isobu shot a Bijuu Bomb in the sky, making him dive in the lake and he moved. I had just made a move to get my summoning scrolls that he jumped out of the water and was diving toward Naruto and Haku. My blood ran cold and I teleported to them, grabbed them and pulled them against me, trying to shield them, and I was knocked unconscious as light disappeared.

* * *

" _I'm not gonna cry."_

" _Sure nee-chan?" Naruto insisted with a grin on his lips. I snorted loudly as Kakashi-san was giving his speech._

" _As the Sixth Hokage, I am honored to meet the new generation of the Academy. This first year..." I stopped listening to him to glance at my babies. Aki was listening carefully, eyes shining with excitement. Shisui...still had that dango stick in his mouth and was clearly bored out of his mind, his hands crossed behind his head._

" _Because you know, first it's the Academy, next thing you know they're moving out and getting married." I glared at my cousin._

" _Yeah, well enjoy Boruto being so clingy for now, it won't last." Naruto lost his grin and looked purely horrified._

" _Boruto loves me too much!" Someone cleared their throat and I clung to Naruto under Kakashi's glare. Naruto rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish smile. "Ah...sorry Kakashi-sensei."_

" _As I was saying..." We both sighed in relief. From the corner of my eyes, I spotted Shisui snickering and Aki...was giving us the eye._

" _My daughter hates me now..." I sulked. Naruto draped his fake arm on my shoulders._

" _Don't say that, your children love you too much to hate you. Embarrassed though? Yeah, sur..." He chuckled nervously under my glare._

I groaned against the hard and cold ground against my face. With a grunt, I pushed on my arms and turned over. It was dark, the walls of that place were red and there were lots of spikes. I sat up and rubbed my eyes to get rid of the blurriness.

Okay, there was Isobu and...Naruto and Haku…

Oh. We had been eaten. Great.

I got up and walked a few meters, my hand on the wall to keep me steady. I walked through a sort of gate looking like Isobu's mouth, to find myself in front of more spikes and more walls.

"Fuck," I cursed out loud. These two better be okay, otherwise I would kill them myself.

I stopped and leaned my back against the wall. Making the tiger seal with my hands, I focused to try to find one of my markers.

It took a minute or so, but I found one. From here, I had no idea where it would take me, but I wasn't about to…

"Mom?" I froze at the uncertainty in the girl's voice.

"Mom!" Slowly, I gulped and looked at my right. There was mist out of sudden, and two teenagers I had not seen in years. "Mom we missed you so much!"

I stood there, frozen, as the boy with dark red hair, almost black, threw himself at me, the girl following close behind with tears at the corner of her eyes.

With a trembling hand, I touched the boy's hair. It was smooth to the touch.

The girl was by my side in an instant and grabbed my free hand. It was warm, her hand was warm.

"Please Mom, let's go home now, we need you," she pleaded, onyx eyes begging me to follow them.

They were both solid, and warm, and their voices were the same.

They were my children, no matter how much I was trying to find flaws I couldn't.

"Come on Mom, Naruto-oji promised to never send you on a mission ever again!" Shisui claimed, his head raised toward me.

"He did?" I asked quietly, my hand cupping his cheek. He smiled and it broke my heart. I cupped his sister's cheek as well and she placed her hand on mine.

"Please don't leave us alone."

"I'm so sorry honey, I'm sorry I've left you alone for so long." I pushed Shisui back. "But I can't come with you when you're nothing but my imagination. There's no way you haven't aged."

Shisui's face broke into an angry scowl.

"What the f..." Aki placed a hand on his mouth and looked coldly at me, the same way Itachi did not so long ago.

"Why?" she asked simply, her voice clear yet...yet heartbroken.

Why? Why? Why indeed, why didn't I want to go with them when they were illusions? It was tempting, but in the back of my mind, Naruto, Haku and Sasuke appeared.

I couldn't really leave them, could I? Not when they had been calling me their sister since they were children. Not when one was mourning gravely his master and refused to see anyone but Naruto and I.

Not when I fucked up by developing bonds with people of this... _world_.

Parallel worlds. So similar yet so different, where one changed event forged a whole new path.

A path my children wouldn't walk.

"Because we no longer belong in the same place," I whispered faintly, eyes empty. "And mostly, because you're not real."

"Do you really think it or are you trying to persuade you of this Akane?" I slid against the wall until I was sitting on the ground.

My breath was stuck in my throat, my wide eyes on the new person. My children, my babies, my _everything_ were gone and instead...instead, their father stood in front of me, Konoha symbol slashed on his forehead protector. I covered my mouth with my hand. He wasn't wearing his coat and his expression, even if it was cold, was slightly more relaxed. I started shaking my head and in my denial, I heard him sighing and kneeling in front of me. Two hands cupped my face and I was forced to stare into two onyx eyes, so similar but also so different from Itachi's.

From the current Itachi.

"You're...you're not real, you're dead..." I croaked, a painful lump in my throat. I tried brushing his hands off my face, his fake...his fake hands, because he was fake, because that version of Itachi was dead, that version of Itachi was dead and buried and nothing but bones in another world, in another time and he couldn't possibly be this warm and…

"Calm down Akane," he whispered to me, his forehead against mine. His warm breath was against my lips, slowly inching closer and closer. In the blink of an eye, I found my strength back and pushed him away. He stood still for a moment until he moved back, onyx eyes staring straight into mine and the feeling of rejection in them made me choke down a sob. "I see. You...you told me you loved me." I tried to stop listening to him, but his deep and soothing voice was still the most melodious sound to my ears. "You said you treasured Shisui's memory but now...you've forgotten about him." I widened my eyes shock. "It's my turn now, isn't it? You...you prefer having him rather than me, he has less emotional baggage after all, he's easier to be with." His statement sent like a wave of electricity through my body, the painful kind, and I grabbed his face, my eyes begging him to believe me.

"No! I don't...I don't feel that way toward him, I don't want to be with him. He..." I trailed off, my voice breaking, but he seemed happy to hear that.

"You're not replacing me then?" I shook my head no. "You haven't forgotten me. I...I needed you so much Akane."

"Did you?" I asked him quietly. His eyes grew soft and a small smile graced his lips. I bit my lower lip to keep my tears inside when he poked me in the forehead, something he never did but that I witnessed old Sasuke do to old Sakura, Sarada, my kids and even me.

But never Itachi.

"I didn't show it, but yes. You...never judged me and accepted me when I came back. You were soothing my soul in a way." I let him hug me and put his head on my shoulder.

Was he...was he real in the end?

"I needed it to continue my mission, but now...I can't stand the pain you have been in for the past six years Akane, I want to help you like you helped me. You just need to break your seal and die."

"...what?"

"I thought I would see you the day you die, that you would join me and then we would have watched over our family together." I wanted to cry so much. He seemed so sincere, so hurt and so loving, wanting to watch over _our_ family. "But you didn't come. You were sent back and I was stuck, watching you and not able to do a thing. I heard you, every single time you cried, every single time you thought it was too much to see everyone alive, where your knowledge was giving you nightmares. I heard you every single time you wanted to see me and ask me for help but I couldn't." He hugged me tighter and, with shaking arms, I hugged him back delicately, scared he would vanish. He didn't. "I wanted to hug you and tell you everything would be alright but I couldn't." I thought I heard something in the back of my mind, but I only listened to Itachi. "You're mine, even today you're still mine, not theirs. You can't project yourself in the future here, you don't belong here." Fu...ture? "Break the seal and then we can be together again, my soul and your soul will be free. I love you Akane."

"I love you too Itachi," I sobbed quietly. "I'll always love you."

"Then come back to me," he whispered back in my ear. "You need to rest. You deserve to rest. They don't...they have everything we didn't have, this new Itachi has everything I didn't have...He doesn't need you too in his life. None of them does. You're not in the same village, they'll forget you one day."

"It..."

I blinked, and Itachi's embrace was replaced by nothing, Minato's wide and worried eyes on me.

"What? But..."

"Akane, it's not real," he explained to me with heavy breath. "I've been trying to pull you in here to tell you that. It's not real, Itachi and your twins were not...they were not..." He bit his lips with pained eyes. He felt everything I felt if I remembered well. "Akane, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry I have to break your dream, but it's not real. The mist, it's from Isobu, it's a genjutsu that confronts you to your insecurities. You need to snap out of it and fast."

"A...genjutsu?" I muttered. There was like a weight dropped in the pit of my stomach. "I...of course, how stupid can I be..."

"Aka..." I raised my hand to stop him, a broken smile on my lips.

"Don't...thank you." I snorted and in the blink of an eye, I was back. There was still the fake Itachi, hugging me tightly.

He was so warm.

The real one though wasn't here. He left a long, long time ago.

I made some hand seals in his back.

"What are you…"

"Fuuton: Passing Typhoon." The mist was blown away.

With this, Itachi was gone too.

One second later, I jumped on my feet and ran up the wall at the sight of many mini Isobus. That was some digestive system he had! However, Isobu told me I could seal one of these mini Isobus as a chakra sample.

I clicked my tongue at the number of Isobus there was. I let them close and managed to seal one in a scroll, but then I ran. I ran as fast as I could because those little turtles thingy were very fast.

"Nee-chan!" I looked up and saw Naruto and Haku. I joined them as quickly as possible, the swarm of Isobus behind me.

"Grab me!" They, each had a hand on my arms and I teleported us out of Isobu.

I fell on the rocky ground of a nook in a cliff, on the shore of Biu Island.

"It's the night already, and it's raining hard," Naruto commented. I got up on shaky limbs and ran outside. I bent over a bush and puked. I threw up bile and some rests of my breakfast, under my relative's worried gaze. A hand rubbed circles in my back.

"Uzu-nee, the mist troubled you that much?" his calm voice asked me. I coughed a little once I was done puking and nodded weakly, my arms around my aching stomach. Haku gave me a handkerchief to wipe my mouth. Once this was done, I went back to the nook, where Naruto was trying to light a fire.

"Nee-chan, you're okay?"

"Yeah, just…" Naruto's big blue eyes we glued to my face, waiting for me to tell him what was wrong. He didn't need me, they didn't need me...was it true? Did they...we were in different villages but...Naruto never forgot Gaara, so…

I felt guilty. I felt guilty for never thinking how old Naruto must have felt when old Sasuke gave him his report and my body, how he must have felt guilty and thought he was the one who killed me by sending me on this mission.

Both of us...felt something was going to happen, he told me he had a bad feeling about this and to be extra careful. When I left old Konoha, I had stared at oji-chan's rock face for a long time. I knew what was that feeling now but…

I hugged Naruto.

"I'm okay." I gave Haku a mini explosive seal on a paper tag, that I often used in mission to light a fire.

Once the flames were illuminating the cave-like nook, we stripped to let our clothes dry, all of us now in shirts and pants. My black shirt was waterproof anyway, but Naruto and Haku were wrapped tightly in blankets.

Mangetsu had been right, I did bring my entire apartment when I was on a mission.

"Now what?" Haku asked me quietly as I gave him and Naruto some instant ramen cups.

"Ramen!"

"Yeah, I'm always prepared," I told him with a wink. "And I don't know Haku, clearly Isobu has some space-time jutsu at his disposal we were not aware of. We're on Biu Island, far from the rest. They'll send a search party soon and ask for reinforcement. Right now, the sealing failed and the logic would want us to go home."

"But?" I sighed.

"I'm sure Isobu is still around and I don't like failure. I tried to do it the easy way and it failed."

"You want to try again then." I nodded at Haku.

"We'll rest here until the sun rises and we'll look for him." I took off my forehead protector and put it in a paper tag.

I was in and out of sleep for most of the night, preparing the back-up seal when I was awake, Naruto having chosen my lap as a pillow. Haku moved closer too and I made him put his head on my shoulder. They were keeping warm me by doing that.

As promised, the sun, or more like the day was barely there that we packed and left. We walked down on the shore, the rain having left to be replaced by misty rain. Heavy gray clouds had invaded the sky and the wind was blowing hard enough for the sand to be blown away. I made the tiger seal and tried to expand my sensory senses as much as I could.

Nothing.

I summoned Seihitsu.

"Hey Seihitsu, please help me tracking down the Sanbi please." I also summoned Umi and Oki and sent them do the same thing. "Naruto, do you think you could make clones and send them on a patrol? Us three are sticking together though. I'll do the same."

It was after a good hour that we found Isobu's chakra, still far from us. He was far from the shore period actually, it had just become a black spot in the distance.

He must have felt us because he jumped out of the water, towering us by his height. Nobody moved for a moment.

"Scatter!" Haku yelled as Isobu literal made a Bijuu Bomb and threw it. I made an ice barrier all around us, and multiple walls of ice to slow it down.

In the end, it exploded just before the shore but the blow of the explosion made us fall. I threw Naruto toward Haku when Isobu was about to hit him with one of his tail. Unfortunately for me, his tail still ended in the water, sending it everywhere and because of that, I didn't see another tail coming straight at me.

I moved enough to keep it from killing me.

"UZU-NEE!" Haku's voice broke me out of my stupor and my brain finally registered the pain.

I spat blood and it dripped down my chain and in the sea under my feet as Isobu's tail stopped moving. The deep gash on my side was bleeding, heavily, too much for it to be superficial, and I was sure the blow had broken at least a rib. Then, I felt something grazed my left arm. I didn't know what it was, but it was bad, as it made me fall on my back.

I saw double for a second and I groaned in pain.

I remembered the pain. The Bijuu chakra was already starting to spread.

As he was going to attack me again, he was blocked by chains and ice. Naruto ran to me and helped me up.

"Isobu, I'm sorry I killed Yagura, and I would let you kill me if the stakes were not as important as they are." Naruto tensed at my words.

"Wait nee-c..."

"Seihitsu, take care of Naruto," I ordered my summon, my arm leaving Naruto's shoulders. With a hand on my bloody side, I stumbled toward the paralyzed bijuu. "I'm sorry I took your friend Isobu, I'm so, so sorry but...but please stop fighting us."

His lone eye stared at me and I finally, finally saw the utter fear in it. I sighed and cursed my stupidity in my mind, defending ourselves, while vital, stirred his fear up.

However, the sight of my bloody clothes must have made something snap inside of him, because I saw something akin to recognition in his eye.

"Red-chan?" I widened my eyes at his voice, so unsure and shy, ringing softly in the silence of the sea. What an odd contrast it was, a bijuu and 'soft' in the same sentence.

"Hey you," I told him with a relieved grin, "welcome back." I stretched out my hand to him. I ordered my summons to let him go, and they did, and slowly, he raised one of his front hands to me. My fingers gently closed around the nail, or tried to as it was bigger than my hand. "Everything is gonna be fine now, 'kay?"

"Okay," he repeated. He patted my head with one of his huge finger. "You humans are so tiny and fragile."

"Yeah, we are," I agreed bitterly. I walked closer to him and caressed his jaw. "Do you remember what we said?"

"Yes." I smiled at him and made an ice platform, big enough to have the three of us on it without clinging to each other. I summoned the sealing altar for the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style.

Oji-chan was right. But instead of stealing back a bijuu from Obito, I would just...turn Haku into a jinc…

"Aouch!" I squeaked as Haku raised my top enough to let the gash on my side exposed to the sea air.

"It won't be long, but I need to stitch the wound Uzu-nee, or you'll die from blood loss before you can do anything." I shot a hopeful glance at Naruto and sweat dropped at the clean bandages in his hands, ready to be used. I sighed in defeat and let them do their work.

Once this was done, Isobu calmly behind us, Haku went to the ceremonial altar and I raised his top to expose his stomach. As I was drawing the seal, Naruto was peeking curiously above my shoulders.

"That's my seal!"

"It is," I confirmed sharply, the seal done. I was now incorporating the back-up seal in it. "This seal is extremely powerful for jinchuriki, and beneficial to them too." I shot one last glance behind me, at Isobu, and nodded to him.

Then, I activated the seal. Haku screamed and I bit my bottom lip, feeling Isobu's chakra filling the seal. My hair was blown away, whipping my face and Naruto grabbed my shoulders to stay still as white smoke surrounded us, Isobu vanishing in the seal.

I caught Haku when the altar disappeared. He was breathing and his face was calmer. I checked my work and sighed in relief.

Everything seemed okay.

"Haku!" Naruto called him and he furrowed his brows. "Hey Haku! Answer us! How do you feel!?"

"Like...I ate so...something bad..." he mumbled and I chuckled, pulling him against me. I hugged him tightly, my forehead against the side of his head.

"I'm sorry," I whispered in his ear. His hand clumsily patted my knee, silently telling me it was alright.

Man, I sealed a bijuu and sealed a seal in the seal itself. Oji-chan, you better be proud of my fuinjutsu skills now.

" **Oh I am, trust me.** " I nodded with satisfaction.

"Naruto, can you carry Haku? You're the only healthy one right now, you're his bodyguard until Kiri. It's a crucial mission I'm giving you, okay." He saluted and put Haku on his shoulder as if he weighted nothing.

"Count on me nee-chan!" We started to leave.

"ART...IS AN EXPLOSION!" You've got to be fucking kidding me.

"Akatsuki!" Naruto screamed as white clay sculptures were falling on us. I spun around and raised my arms. I winced at the pain in my left arm caused by Isobu's chakra and erected an ice shield in the form of a dome. Less solid than my frozen water shield, but it covered more ground.

I searched through my back pouch and threw a map to Naruto.

"Haku has a contact seal on him, I made sure of that before we left the village. Run."

"I'm not leaving you behind nee-chan!" Naruto...such a bleeding-heart.

"Naruto...I've survived so far, I'll survive now too. I won't leave my brothers be such easy targets, so please Naruto, please go."

"But..." The first bomb touched the shield and I gritted my teeth. It were powerful explosions the Bakkuton made.

"GO!" He didn't budge for a second and ended up running.

"DON'T YOU DARE DYING!" he roared at me, running as fast as he could to the shore. I smirked.

My lie made him leave in the end. He will resent me for that, but they had to leave. I didn't have the strength to keep up my shield with so many explosions, so I raised my arms in front of me to protect myself when Deidara's bombs exploded all around me, sending water everywhere.

I turned my head to look at the boys. They were almost at the shore, but I widened my eyes when I spotted bombs going their ways.

"INCOMING!" I managed to yell.

I blinked when I felt my limbs getting attached to strings and I was in the air as black smoke engulfed the boys.

I didn't have the time to dwell on that though, because I was thrown harshly in the sea on the opposite side.

Huh…

Maybe it was my time after all.

I closed my eyes and let darkness engulfed me.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to nevvy for the reviews!**

 **Happy New Year !**

 **Bye!**


	54. Sealing Arc: Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 13**

 **Shisui: 22**

 **Kakashi: 27**

* * *

"Hey, Sasori my man..."

"What?" Sasori grumbled from his Hiruko puppet, him and Deidara on one of the blond's giant bird, flying over the sea of an island of the Land of Water.

"What does Leader-sama want from the girl that almost beat you in Konoha?"

"How am I supposed to know idiot?"

"Well, she's Ushio's daughter," Deidara continued. He took his chin between his fingers, a thoughtful expression on his face. "And Ushio's far from weak, yeah. She seemed loyal to her village though."

"We're just executing orders, Deidara. Stop asking futile questions."

"Still!"

"Why are you so curious?" Deidara raised a brow at him and pointed is finger at him.

"Isn't that obvious!? She got you out of your puppet my man!"

Their conversation was cut short by an explosion. They flew closer and were surprised to see the Sanbi, three small dots in front of it.

"Oh, that's her!"

"It seems like Kiri tasked the same person of taking down the Mizukage and sealing the Sanbi. They keep using their shinobi until they no longer function even with their little revolution, pathetic."

"Should we intervene now? Leader-sama wants us to bring her back, what if she dies?"

"I don't recall him asking her alive. Let's watch her fail."

They did. They saw the Sanbi attacking, and then stopping, the girl just taming him and sealing him inside its new jinchuriki without fighting back.

"Did she use magic now, yeah?" Deidara asked Sasori, who, inside Hiruko, was frowning, deeply in thoughts.

"Maybe she's worth something after all. Bomb them." Deidara grinned and put his hands in his pouches to get clay. Once his bombs were done, he stretched out his hands.

"ART...IS AN EXPLOSION!" he yelled, dropping his bombs.

It was far from being complicated to take her. She was weakened, and Sasori threw her away from the other two, who tried to run away but were still caught in Deidara's explosions. They flew closer to the surface of the water and stared at the unconscious body floating.

"She dead you think?"

"Who knows?" Sasori replied, using his chakra threads to lift her up. She was still breathing, but barely. "Uzumakis are known to be cockroaches after all. It's not that surprising she survived. Let's go."

Akane behind Sasori, they left the sea for the main island. There was a grunt when they reached the shore at the north of Kiri.

"Fuck me," she muttered under her breath. Deidara turned his head toward her.

"Awake yeah?" She turned her head enough to glare at him. She raised a closed fist, seemingly trying to attack and the two Akatsuki members prepared themselves to return it.

No attack came though. Except Akane giving them the finger for a second before going limp.

"I'm done for," she mumbled against his bird.

"Can't fight back?" Sasori taunted her. She didn't even look at him, humming in approbation.

"Isn't it obvious genius?"

How long until Ame?

* * *

"I see," Naoto said as he was in front of Dai, Itachi close behind. "They were swallowed by the Sanbi and it disappeared. None of our intel mentioned a space-time jutsu."

"To be fair, I think Uzu mentioned something like getting inside to have a chakra sample for the back-up seal, but she didn't really want to be eaten," the medic added with a shrug. Naoto scoffed.

"Understandable."

"Hey Itachi!" Itachi looked at Dai, making a mental note on how it seemed the lack of honorific was something he had in common with Akane. "I'm glad to have you here rather than that stupid Shisui but..." Itachi fought the urge to sweat drop. The two were more alike than they thought. "...why are you here?"

"Jiraya-sama ordered me to get Naruto."

"Huh, fair enough, the brat was quite a surprise."

"If you're done with the talking we're going to speed up," Naoto droned at them.

In the end, they reached the beach.

"Biu Island?" Dai wondered, glancing at the glowing paper tag in his hand. "They landed on Biu Island?"

"Something's coming!" Naoto yelled out of sudden. The three men became quiet and Itachi activated his sharingan when a whistling sound started to be heard in the distance. Dai squinted.

"Is that…a turt..." He didn't finished that the thing coming their way flew between them and dug itself in the sand. They all stood on their guard.

It was a sort of ball of pink coral, but the most striking was the three tails slowly being absorbed inside of it. Cracks started to appear everywhere and the coral broke into pieces.

"It's the brat and Haku." As if on cue, a piece a coral was pushed away and Naruto sat up, blue eyes confused.

"Itachi-nii?" The Uchiha sighed in relief and walked up to Naruto whereas Dai went to Haku, who was unconscious, to check on him. Itachi knelt next to the genin with stern eyes.

"Do you realize the gravity of your actions?" Naruto didn't look at him and nodded weakly.

"I didn't want nee-chan to do things alone again." Itachi sighed and patted him on the head.

"I know Naruto, I know."

"I don't care if she's from another village, she's my sister." Was the universe against him for reminding him that everyday? He was going to confront her and apologize, he didn't need every little thing to remind him.

"It seems like the sealing was a success after all," Naoto said, now next to Dai who had a long face.

"Yeah...yeah it did."

"Dai-nii?" The medic ignored the youngest among them and looked at Naoto.

"Her mission is a success but she's not there."

"The Akatsuki!" Itachi's free hand grasped his shoulder. "There was explosions and nee-chan told me to leave with Haku, that I was his bodyguard until Kiri, that she survived before and that she will survive now but she's hurt! The Sanbi's tail hurt her and made her lose a lot of blood, Haku had to stitch it in emergency, and she was hit at the arm too!"

"Right now she's infected," Dai summed up quickly, his eyes wide open in panic. "She...she most probably has stopped fighting by now because she's too weak. I mean..."

"ANBU secrecy."

"Akane's part of the ANBU?" Itachi asked before he could think about it. From her level, it seemed more than believable.

"Against her will," Naoto added. "We need to bring these two back to Kiri."

"I'm saving nee-chan!"

"You're doing as you're told brat!" Naoto replied harshly, a scowll on his face. "I'm done giving in an Uzumaki tantrum!" Naruto's face turned scarlet in anger.

"You..."

"Naruto." Naruto looked at Itachi and fainted when he was met by the red of the Sharingan. Itachi caught him and laid him down on the sand. "I'll go."

"Wait, your ord..."

"Well I don't like taking orders." The Uchiha accepted the paper Naoto gave him.

"Don't lose it, activate it like a random seal and it will give you Akane's location."

"Hey, is that..."

"What Ushio-san helped Fubuki do when Akane was born? Yes." Fubuki was Akane's brother's name. Itachi did not know a lot about him, nobody really knew anything regarding Fubuki except Kakashi and Akiko. He was dead and buried in Konoha, that was sure. He still remembered the shock he felt when he followed Sasuke in the cemetery when he was leaving flowers on his grave. "What are you still doing here? Go!"

He did, following the seal.

There was a lot he did not know about Akane, a lot he wanted to know, a lot he wanted her to tell him. He needed to make sure she would be able to tell him though.

So, when after hours of blindingly following a trail he wasn't a hundred percent sure of, he saw a familiar white bird, he didn't waste time. There were three people on it, Akane immobile at the back, near the tail. The pattern of his sharigan changed and black flames separated Akane from the two shinobi, who started crashing forward.

Akane was still falling to a sure death.

Itachi leaned on a tree branch and, with a lot of chakra in his legs, jumped and caught her easily in his arms. He landed swiftly on another branch and looked at the girl in his arms. Her eyes were closed but her lids were fluttering, indicating she wasn't totally unconscious yet. Her left arm was bleeding slightly, nothing next to her left side. The blood-soaked jacket and shirt underneath were clearly clinging to the bandages around her wound.

She needed to see a medic and fast.

However, with her in that state, he needed to rely on the map the Mizukage gave him before he left Kiri.

He needed to find a place to hide.

"...'tachi?" a weak voice mumbled. He briefly looked down and sped up at the sight of the pained expression on her face and the sweat running down her temple. She was drenched in water and it wouldn't be long until she got sick too, and she didn't need that right now. "Is...is that you?"

"Yes," he answered flatly, shooting a glance above his shoulders. They were not giving up.

"...but you hate me."

"Thanks for bringing me up to date on that," he replied calmly, even though guilt twisted his stomach. She thought he hated her and he thought she hated him.

They were each as bad as the other.

* * *

I was burning, in and out of consciousness. When I opened my eyes, it seemed to be dark outside already, and there was a fire burning close to me. I looked around with hazy eyes. I was in a cave and…

I blinked at Itachi, apparently sleeping, slouched against the wall. I was sure his sleep wasn't deep. He wasn't a deep sleeper anyway, he was always on his guards.

Why would I be in a cave with Itachi though? I...was in the sea and…

Nothing. I remembered nothing after that.

I opened my eyes wide. Ma...maybe I was back in a genjutsu? Maybe...maybe…

Pain, pain breaks illusions. I needed pain to go home.

Where was home anyway? Out of reach, but I could go to the closest thing I had, and rest.

Yeah, rest. Sleep for a long time.

I gritted my teeth and reached for a kunai. I would break the illusion with a bang. On this thought, I closed my eyes and lowered the blade toward my throat.

The blow never came. I opened my eyes and shivered at Itachi's sharingan above me, his hand closed around the handle of my kunai to keep it in place.

"What were you thinking?" he asked me coldly.

"You're fake," I spat at him, trying to get rid of his grip. He clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"You're having an episode again," he muttered quietly, kneeling next to me to be more stable. I saw red.

"You're fake, I'm fake, this whole world is fake so let me go home!" He snatched my weapon from my hand and with a spike of energy, I rolled away from him. I got on all four and bared my teeth at him. "Let me go home and rest! I want to...want to..."

"I'll bring you home Akane, just calm down." He stepped forward, his hands in front of him. I felt a tear on my cheek.

"You...you can't bring me home, I...it's...I have to do it on my own...but you...you keep...you all keep..." I was...panting, and weak. Itachi had furrowed his brows, trying to understand me.

"We're keeping you from going home?"

"Yeah be...cuz you...you can't die and I...I have to...to make sure that..." In the blink of an eye, he was behind me. I fought back when he tried to block me, but he still did, his legs pinning mine on the ground and his arms around my frame to keep me from moving, my back firmly pressed against his chest. "Let...let go of...of me fa...fake..."

"I'm not fake, you're not fake Akane," he said softly against my head. With his knee, he managed to put pressure on my side and I winced in pain. "See, pain. It's real. Don't dive into another episode now."

"Episode?" I repeated, stopping thrashing about. "Konoha?"

"Yes." His forehead was now against the back of my head.

"I...Itachi?"

"That's me. Sorry for using your wound, but I had to make new stitches and I didn't want you to pop them again. At least it also pulled you out of your delirium."

"I...where..."

"Don't worry about it. I know I'm probably not the person you want around right now, but trust me for this. I'll take you to the hospital."

"Heh...you're...talkative now?" He sighed, blowing on my neck at the same time.

"You're the worst Akane." I chuckled weakly and crossed my left arm on my chest. Then, I slowly froze it up to my shoulder. It seemed like...the Shinigami chakra had been slowing Isobu's chakra down, keeping it from spreading too much, almost like it was a magnet to it. "Don't do that!" he hissed, his arms tightening around me.

"Don't worry...it keeps San...bi's chakra from spreading..." Man...I leaned my head back on Itachi's shoulder, him moving his head back too. "Naruto...Haku..."

"They're fine, they were with Dai-san and Naoto-san when I left."

* * *

She fell back asleep in his arms, her breathing still labored and a slight frown on her face, but she fell back asleep. Itachi sighed in relief, hoping she would not have an episode when she would wake up.

It was the first time he saw her from so close. The way how her hair was partially hiding her left eye, how she drew her snob nose back in her sleep, how sometimes two sharp teeth would graze on her bottom lip. He never watched her from so close and he stopped doing it as soon as he started it. He leaned his head back against the wall and sighed, an embarrassed flush on his cheeks.

He did. He did have have a crush on Akane when they were children. He would watch her from afar to understand why Shisui would spend so much time with her. The first time she saw him she thought he was a girl, and he had blushed in shame. Shisui laughed it off and he had spent the afternoon with the two, just playing, and she ended up apologizing when she misunderstood his shyness for humiliation. The good thing had been, because she was a foreigner, she had not known about him being an heir and they just played. After that time, he saw her one more time, once again with Shisui, and nothing more. He was pretty sure she just remembered calling him a girl though.

However, the first time he saw her, it was when he was with his heavily pregnant mother. They were shopping for baby clothes and they met Kushina-san. The two women talked and from the corner of his eyes, he saw her, spacing out next to children's clothes. What struck him the most had been how empty her eyes had been, as if she was reliving painful events. Before he could ask about her, Kushina-san briefly introduced her as her niece and they left, without Akane noticing him.

He never mentioned any of it to her when she came back to Konoha, nor did he tell her he knew she was from Kiri way before she left Konoha. It was not relevant, she spent time with Sasuke and Naruto and because of that his brother finally socialized with other kids his age.

They became friends. When he thought back of the cold shoulder she used to give him, he could not feel anything but relief knowing they were past it.

She stirred in her sleep and he adjusted her so that her bad arm and side did not suffer from any useless pressure.

His Mangekyou appeared when he saw her body and it still haunted him sometimes, especially knowing what she had to do for the past couple of years. He cared about her, he cared about her a lot. She saw him for him, would listen without a word or judgment if he talked to her. Not that he did, but he knew she would. She made him laugh too, deliberately or not.

Shisui saw that too and was deeply in love with her. Even if she denied it, Itachi knew Akane had feelings for him too, although they probably were not strong enough to overcome the distance and the obstacles that, he thought, Akane placed between them.

Itachi loved them both. Shisui was the older brother he never got and his best friend, Akane was his best friend and only real female relationship apart from his mother. He cared for Izumi, he truly did, she was a great person and she was in love with him. She was the easy option.

When Akane came back for the Chuunin Exams, alive and colder than ever, he realized that his relationship with Izumi had been the best way to respect Shisui's feeling for the Kiri kunoichi.

Discovering she knew all along he had been a spy was a harsh blow, the trust he wanted to build back shattering once again. She acted oblivious and he had to admit he had acted in the heat of the moment when he almost broke her wrist. He wanted to wait until everything was over, observe for a while so that he would understand and calm his latent anger. She had to try to keep him from leaving though, and in an instant he was back in shinobi mode, every thoughts of asking her explanations calmly out of the window. It was her almost running away from him and Sasuke's intervention that broke him out of it, leaving him the displeasure of seeing the aftermath.

Akane had looked like a beaten animal and he had been the torturer.

"...salmon...in miso..." Akane mumbled sleepily in his arms. He raised a brow as her lids fluttered open. Sleepy eyes found his. "Still here?"

"Apparently," he replied casually. "We won't move until morning, keep resting."

"You...didn't leave me behind?" He blinked and frowned. He knew their relationship was strained, but did she really think he would leave her to die? "But...he did, so why..."

"Who left you behind?" The cold anger in his voice made her close her eyes. Someone left her behind? Behind what? When? Where? Who?

"I loved him so much..." His arms twitched around her. "I...I wasn't enough for...for him to stay...I was in love with him...but he left me behind..."

Itachi bit his bottom lip. Akane was pretty, smart, funny, why wouldn't she have met someone already? It was...predictable.

He should not feel jealous and hurt she was in love with someone. Apparently, it was not Shisui, because Shisui would die before he left her behind.

Who then?

"You...you look...so much like him it...it hurts sometimes..."

How...was he supposed to take that?

"Why..."she started, raising her face toward his, eyes completely lost. "Why wasn't I enough?"

"I...I don't know," he answered in a whisper and she snorted, burying her face in the crook of his neck.

"I want to go home." He had no idea where 'home' was to her, but he was sure it was not Kiri, and no matter how painful it was to admit, it was not Konoha either.

"Is he home?"

"No...I found home after he left."

Itachi loved having his mind challenged, but right now it was more upsetting than anything.

Akane was broken, that much was obvious to him. He just wished he could have seen her trying to put the pieces together on her own in Konoha before three years as a double agent shattered the already broken pieces.

For now, he needed to take her to the hospital.

For now, she needed to rest, emotionally and physically.

For now, he needed to silence his own emotions to let her focus on herself.

* * *

When I woke up, I wasn't in the cave anymore, nor in Itachi's arms on the way back to the village. I was againt the trunk of a tree, my left arm now secured with white bandages, and Itachi was in front of me, one knee in the mud and his hand on his bleeding ankle. The pouring rain was not helping either, we couldn't see two meters in front of us.

"Itachi? You...you got hurt?"

"I didn't see his kunai," he replied painfully and I frowned. Itachi...didn't see it?

"What...where are they?"

"I almost made the blond one kill himself with a genjutsu, but the other one got him out of it. I think the other one is fake, he wasn't...touched by it."

"That or he knows about what the Sharingan can do." And only God knew the extent of Sasori's knowledge after all. "Wait...the kunai came from Sasori?" He nodded weakly, a knowing look in his eyes. "Shit. Shit, Itachi you..." He pressed his hand against my mouth.

"He's an expert in poison, I know," he whispered harshly. "I can't feel my leg anymore." I tried to get up but failed and ended up on all four, three, with a groan of pain, muffled by Itachi's hand. "Don't try...Sanbi's chakra keeps you from recuperating properly, your chakra level didn't budge."

"You're needed," I mumbled to myself. "You...fuck, you can't die now, you're _needed_ ," I hissed quietly, slamming my fist in the mud.

"Needed?" he repeated slowly. I bit my bottom lip. I...I did my part.

I did my part. They...they could...could fight back harder than before. They didn't need me, the won before while I was living away from all that shit.

They could do it again. Itachi and Shisui were there too, they were both stronger than I was, mentally, physically, shinobi speaking.

They didn't need me.

On that though, I grasped Itachi's hand in my own, now sitting on my heels.

"Don't you dare," he hissed coldly at me, the anger in his eyes telling me he knew what I was about to do. I smirked at him.

"A few months ago, Mangetsu told me he didn't know if the symbols of the Bloody Mist would be good for the new Kiri. I...am one." I smiled at him, my eyes closed, searching for a marker. Oh, we were far from the village, not too far but not next door either. Now, the hospital...found it. "Thanks for coming Itachi, sorry for lying to you."

"Aka..." He didn't finish that I used one last Hiraishin, just to never see the landing.

Looks like I was the one to leave this time.

* * *

The landing was painful. Itachi did not mind it though, as he sat up straight away to look at Akane, her hand now limp around his. His first reflex was to catch it and check for her pulse.

He did not find one.

He checked for a breathing.

He could not feel one.

Gathering his last strengths, he got up on trembling legs and lifted her limps body in his arms. He recognized the hospital walls, he knew the way.

His sight was blurry though. He felt nauseous and his leg was threatening to give up on him. He was pathetic right now, he had not anticipated the effects of using his Mangekyou once more. The pain of the Susano'o was unbearable, as usual, but then his eyesight failed him, enough for Sasori's kunai to injure his ankle.

"Itachi?" Itachi spun around, dark and exhausted eyes now on Kakashi. Immediately, Kakashi's eye widened in understanding. "Dai! Come here, medics!" Kakashi tried to take Akane from him, but by reflex he pulled her closer to his chest in a failed attempt to protect her from an imaginary threat. "Itachi, it's Kakashi, I won't do anything to her." By forcing a little, he managed to take her from Itachi, who dropped on one knee immediately after.

"Fuck man!" Dai screamed behind Kakashi. He started running to them but stopped in his steps when Itachi started coughing.

Hard. He was coughing too hard. He grasped his jacket at the heart, his other hand against his mouth in a vain attempt to calm himself. It hurt, it was hurting more than a regular coughing fit. His heart was painful and he could already taste the iron taste of blood in his mouth.

Blood dripped between his fingers and on the floor. He was soon throwing up more blood and on the floor, and the only thing he was wondering was how long it would last.

Was it the poison?

"Damn Itachi..." Dai said in shock. Once the coughing fit was over, the Uchiha stared at the puddle of blood and bile on the floor and leaned of the right, passing out on the floor. "Fuck, poi..."

The voices were faint.

The only thing that crossed Itachi's mind before he passed out, was that Dai took him on his shoulder and that he hoped what just happened was the work of the poison and nothing else.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to NguyetMieu, kankananime123 and theselfproclaimedgreatest7 for the reviews! As for Akane's chart, considering her past life and her progresses in her current life, she's a solid 5 in seals, 5 in ninjutsu, 3 in genjutsu, 4 in taijutsu, 4,5 in speed, 4 in intelligence, 3 in strength, 4,5 in stamina and 4 in hand seals, as in the Data Books there isn't seals, it's a total of 32. **

**Bye!**


	55. Sealing Arc: Final

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 13**

 **Shisui: 22**

 **Kakashi: 27**

* * *

I couldn't move a muscle when I woke up. It asked me a lot of efforts to just open my eyes, and it was dark. The regular sound of the monitor next to me made me recognize my hospital room. I was hurt then…

I opened my eyes as wide as saucers.

Itachi! Itachi was…

"Uzu, calm down!" The lamp on the nightstand was turned on and a tired Dai kept me against my mattress. He took a deep, slow breath, and breathed it out, telling me to do the same. "That's right, breath in, breath out. It's over, Aneki sent a lot of people at the borders to make sure the Akatsuki duo that got you and Itachi were out of the country. Naruto and Haku are fine, Haku's used to Isobu already."

"I...Ita..."

"You've been asleep for two weeks, Konoha minus Itachi left a week ago," he continued, ignoring me. "Your state was life-threatening for the first two days, I healed the most important until Karin made a chakra transfusion. Naruto wouldn't leave your side, and that stupid Shisui kept going back and forth between your room and Itachi's. Except for your left arm that will take some more time, you're good, so mission accomplished."

"Dai." He sighed and sat back in the chair. There were files on his knees.

"Look, Uzu, it's not your fault. If anything, we probably should have kept him from..."

"Dai!"

"He's alive and stable!" Stable, stable, not awake then. Not out of danger for good, just stable. "We're seriously understaffed so I...I asked Sasuke and Sakura to help." I narrowed my eyes at him. "You obviously couldn't make seals and Sasuke could, and Sakura's being trained by Tsunade-sama, they were my best shot at extracting the poison! Shit, even now there are still rests of poison in his body, I'm not good enough to take out all of it. But don't worry, I sent a lot to Konoha with the composition I thought it was to get an antidote, it should be here soon." He leaned his cheek in his hand, his elbow on his knee. "I...I just wasn't expecting him to be..."

"Be what?"

"So...urgh, his father almost killed me here and then when I asked. I mean, Itachi's a genius right? I didn't think he had a low-chuunin stamina and chakra reserves!" I blinked at him. He had always been like that then. "But I guess it explains why he...Uzu, you knew him... _before_ , right?"

"I told you everything, so what do you think?" I retorted dryly.

"He was deadly sick?" I froze at that.

I totally forgot that.

With everything, I completely forgot that old Itachi was sick.

The realization dawned on me.

"He...is he...of god he's..." I stuttered frantically. Dai looked down at the files.

"I took the liberty to compare his case with...sorry, you couldn't give an authorization so I just took..."

"Fubuki's file," I finished weakly for him, my eyes narrowing to read my brother's name on the second file.

"Yeah...it's the same symptoms."

"I know," I mumbled. "I know. But...but Tsunade-san can..."

"Oh sure, once we give her the file of the virus it will be..."

"Wait, we have that?" I cut him off with confusion. Dai blinked at me with confusion too.

"You don't know? Uzu...it's not a natural virus, it's a chemical weapon the Sandaime had ordered to create to get rid of anyone who awakened a kekkai genkai before the age of ten, when the chakra network is not fully done. They put it in the air of the country but once most of the purges happened, Yagura decided to stop it. Up until three years ago, there were still some cases." I looked at him with horror.

Fubuki...Fubuki had awakened his kekkai genkai during his graduation exam, at the age of three. I knew the Sandaime had pushed him and his genius to the limits but…

Fuck, it was child slaughter.

"Your brother was an Uzumaki but his Ice Release appeared way too soon to spare him," Dai continued, now reading my brother's file. "It's a miracle he lived that long actually." Wasn't he just born weak? That's what...I was told my entire life. He was born weaker than normal and got sick. "Itachi's low stamina combined with that guy's poison...it allowed the little rest of the virus in the air to go in his system and...well, his father told me he had the Sharingan ever since he was eight. It shouldn't have happened but...the guy's real unlucky, even if I'm impressed he could still carry you when you were in the hospital. Kakashi-san had to force him to make him let go of you."

Itachi was sick.

Itachi was _sick_.

Again, he was sick, again. I didn't care he had access to Tsunade-san's medical care, Itachi was _fucking_ sick again!

"I explained that too in my letter to Konoha, don't worry. It's deadly if it's not taken care of and if he overuses his sharingan and his chakra basically." Stupid old Itachi, I bet he knew exactly what he was putting his body through but didn't care from the moment he lasted long enough to fight old Sasuke. "He has yet to wake up though."

"He should have left me," I said flatly.

"You're already in the hospital so I'm going to let this one slide," Dai spat, getting up abruptly, "and I know you're in the middle of a breakdown and that this one will be longer than usual. But next time you say that I'll make sure you have a permanent room in this hospital, got it?" I sighed and nodded. "Good, I'll come back in the morning, go back to sleep."

"Dai..." He stopped at the door and looked at me above his shoulder. "Thanks...for him." He waved me off.

"That's my job."

Itachi was sick.

I breathed out slowly, calming my racing heart. It was beating too fast.

Itachi was sick, but he wasn't a missing-nin. He would be fine. And if Mom heard about it...she wouldn't stay idly and wait.

Huh...I had a lot of stuff to discuss with her next time I was in Konoha. Mainly the story of my entire life that, apparently, I knew nothing of.

Old Sasuke and old Naruto bugged me so much to make me tell my children about my kunoichi days in Kiri and I kept refusing. Now, now I knew how the twins must have felt.

* * *

It was strange. I had already seen Itachi having a crisis, hell I saved his ass once, but he was good at not showing any signs of weakness in front of me, or anyone. Heh, he was upset with himself when once, he fell asleep on my shoulder right after he climaxed.

Still, it was strange to see him sleeping in a hospital bed and knowing it had been like that for two weeks and a half. Once I woke up, I started to recuperate faster. My left arm was still in a splint, but except for that, I was fine. Itachi, however, had not moved. The white sheet reached his shoulders and his left arm was over it, many drips stuck in it.

His hair was loose too. I was pretty sure I had never seen that Itachi without his hair tied back here. Before yes, he didn't sleep or shower with his hair in a ponytail, once or twice he even just left it because I had hidden his hairbands and he didn't feel like looking for them.

He would just annoy me as much as he could with a blank face, pretending he wasn't trying to annoy me.

Thinking about it, it often ended up in sex. Well, the longest he stayed was maybe three weeks straight and the longest period of time he didn't show up was four months, so it was bestial and rough more often than not, then sweeter and gentler when the frustration was evacuated.

Damn, don't think about your past sex life now Akane! Especially with this Itachi having a girlfriend and obviously having sex with her.

"I was looking for you." I turned my head to sensei, at the door. She was exhausted, the dark bags under her eyes prominent.

"Sorry I missed the inauguration Mizukage-sama." She shook her head.

"It's nothing, you're better now." She walked next to me. "Any amelioration?"

"Dai said he would wake up soon, something about signals, but I didn't understand. I just want him to go home as fast as possible, he shouldn't have been so involved in this shit. None of Konoha actually."

"But in the end they were very helpful, and he brought me my student back." But I failed at that, I knew she didn't mean it that way but I failed at bringing her student back. "I had two things...no three, to tell you."

"Ah?"

"First, you disobeyed direct orders, not once but twice. You've changed the plan before the attack and you carried on with the sealing of the Sanbi on your own and away from the group whereas it was clear than in that case it was postponed." I looked down. Yep, that was me. "I know you Akane, I know what kind of kunoichi you were forced to be and the kind your really are. In consequences, you're fired from the ANBU, like Dai who shouldn't have let Itachi-kun follow your trail on his own." I raised my head to her in a flash, my eyes blinking rapidly.

"No...no more ANBU?"

"And I'm making you take a sabbatical leave for at least a month. You're a precious element to the village Akane, but as your sensei I know that right now you don't see it that way, that you only see the dark side of things. It has been three grueling years for you and your mental health, you need rest." She looked at Itachi. "Once he's awake, you'll go to Konoha with him and another shinobi. You need it and deserve it."

"You're...too generous Godaime. I'm not used to my Kage caring so much about my health."

"The Bloody Mist is over. Plus, it's not that much your fighting skills I'll need in the future." I groaned. "I know, I don't like paperwork and diplomacy either. Oh, and the last thing. Hokage-sama sent us a letter. Everybody came back safely, including Sasuke, but with Itachi here she's sending her assistant and a team to have more information."

"Shizune-san? She's good." I wondered how Sasuke was doing. Sensei patted my shoulder.

"Also, we're finally going to have the funerals." True, it had not happened yet. "We...conserved all the bodies in scrolls, things were too hectic but now we can have them. An official one in the cemetery and a spiritual one."

"Oh."

The Land of Water had a lot of folklore to it, including concerning the dead. A spiritual funeral was usually given to war heroes. It was at the Shinpisei river in the wood at the north of the village, just outside of it. It went to a lake where the mist was always too thick for us to see anything, but there was a waterfall. The bodies were put in open caskets, covered from head to toes by a white shit, and sent toward the waterfall by their loved ones as a final goodbye. Then, with a Fire jutsu, the bodies were cremated, leaving the living watching the lights of the flames consuming their loved ones in the mist, like a life going to the unknown. Apparently, this ritual started long ago in order to make sure and witness the departure of the dead to the other side.

Sensei left and I sighed softly. Slowly, I looked back at Itachi.

"So...how long have you been awake?" He opened his eyes.

"You want me to go home and didn't want Konoha to be so involved." I deadpanned at him.

"Seriously? You've been pretending to be asleep for the entire conversation? You heard her firing me?"

"I heard you failing at hiding your happiness about being fired." I chuckled.

"ANBU destroys people, you should consider quitting and be a regular jounin too. Get a genin team, I don't know, it did Kakashi some good." He closed his eyes but his face remained relaxed. "Do you want me to leave you alone?"

"No," he answered calmly, "I have questions."

"When don't you have questions?" I grumbled and I was pleasantly surprised to hear him chuckling at my behavior.

"I just need a summary of my situation Akane," he clarified, his gaze landing on me. He was clearly still tired, his eyes only half open and his onyx iris appearing bigger than normally. Basically, the big, dangerous Uchiha Itachi looked like an eighteen year-old stuck in a hospital bed for good reasons.

"You've slept for two weeks and a half. Dai told me Konoha left a week and a half ago, I woke up three days ago so, you know. Sakura and Sasuke helped taking care of the poison but you still have some in you, and as you heard a team from Konoha with Shizune is coming. She probably has an antidote Tsunade-san made to get rid of the rest of the poison in your bloodstream."

"Akane," he said, as calm as ever. "There is something else, isn't it?" I pursed my lips.

"I...I mean...Shizune-san will tell you, and Dai, basically medics." I had no idea how old Itachi could have caught that shitty virus before, I wasn't told of any big fights he had had in the Land of Water, but this...this was my fault. My chair screeched on the floor when I jumped on my feet to keep Itachi from sitting up. Blood was already in the clear tube of his drip because of his movements. "Itachi stop moving you idiot!"

"Then tell me what's wrong with me," he demanded coldly. "Akane, if you know something then tell me, now." I sat on the bed and lowered my head.

"I'm sorry, it's my fault," I apologized quietly. "If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't...you wouldn't be sick."

"How sick?" There was no emotion in his voice, just a total and utter detachment.

"Deadly sick if it's not taken care of fast."

I was taken by a sudden urge to hug him, so I did, my chin on his left shoulder. My right hand clenched his beige hospital shirt, but funny enough, whereas my hand and basically whole body were shaking, Itachi stood still. His free arm hugged me back after a few seconds, rubbing my back in a soothing motion.

"It's not your fault," he whispered in my ear. "I chose to go."

"I know but...but if it wasn't for me then...then you..."

"You're alive though. If I had left you, you wouldn't be and it would worst. Diseases can be cured, death cannot." Yeah well…

"Still...I can't have you in the same state my brother was...I just can't. I..." His arm, now around my waist, tightened, pressing me against his chest. "I'm sorry Itachi, I'm so sorry, for everything you have every rights to be mad at me for." He sighed against my shoulder.

"Akane," he started and I bit the inside of my cheek. "We're in the hospital, let's not talk about that for now."

"Okay," I agreed. I moved back a little, enough for my face to face his. I put two fingers on his neck to check his pulse. He raised a brow at me and I offered him a small wavering smile in return. "Sorry...I just want to be sure." The corner of his lips twitched up by a millimeter and he was checking my pulse too.

"Between you and I...you were the one with no pulse or breathing when we got here."

None of us moved for a few seconds until I stood up. His hand fell on his thigh.

"You should go back to sleep, but I'll tell Dai you're conscious now."

I left quickly.

I wouldn't fall back. I wouldn't let myself fall back in that.

I still needed to think.

* * *

"How is it possible? You sleep eighteen hours a day, how could you possibly have read two books already?"

"It's interesting," he replied without looking up from his page, sitting in his bed against his pillow. He didn't have a drip anymore. "Is it okay for me to read them though?"

"What do you mean? It's books about folklore."

"I know, but it's still information about a country other than mine." I rolled my eyes. "You know what I mean."

"I know, I know way too much about the Land of Fire because of my link to oji-chan, but you're bedridden and bored, so shut up and thank me."

"Thank you," he said flatly without a second thought.

"More conviction next time. But is it interesting?"

"The Land of Water is the most secretive of the five Elemental Nations, what do you think?"

"Well, I'm glad you're enjoying this, it's better this way than when one of the Elder is teaching you History. Gosh was that awful." He folded the corner of his page neatly and closed the book, putting it on his nightstand. "Tired of it?"

"No, it's just...would you tell me more?" I blinked at him and tilted my head with a small frown. "About you...in Kiri." I was sure he felt like he needed to add the last part. In response, I shrugged.

"Alright, you'll be the second Uchiha to ask about it then."

"Oh, Shisui knows already," he whispered to himself and I bust into laughter.

"Hell no! I mean, he does know some stuff but it's because we were getting things straight when he arrived at the Resistance, but I just told him why I was affiliated to Kiri and why I wouldn't be a kunoichi anywhere else. I'm pretty sure that's all, he didn't ask more about it and I'm not sure I would have answered. I was barely starting to be 'proud' if I may put it like that." Itachi raised his brows at me. "No, I mean Sasuke. When were in Uzushio and he was completely lost, he asked me how it was in Kiri."

"You were in Uzushio," he repeated blandly. "With Sasuke."

"When I picked him up, I was on my way back from a mission and I was planning on stopping by Uzushio to do some digging in hope of finding more on bijuu. Actually, I wanted to know if Konoha was around before going, to give Sasuke back, but he said he didn't want to." It was Itachi's turn to sigh. "Anyway, ask your questions and I'll answer what I can and want. I'll spare you some details."

"How did you even end up in Kiri?" The question left his lips so fast it took us both by surprise. I smirked.

"Heh...you've had that one for a long time. Well, when we got word oji-chan and Aunty Kushina passed away, Mom decided we wouldn't go to Konoha, too dangerous with that Danzou around." Under Itachi's gaze, I crossed my legs. "Right...during the year I spent in Konoha, he tried to get me in his Foundation twice. Anyway, I spent most of my childhood traveling with Mom, where she taught me fuinjutsu and chakra control stuff, the basics of self defense. When I was eleven, I was...picking up fruits if I remember well and Hoshigaki-san found me. He told me Yagura had ordered him to get the Uzumaki back to the village. I stayed until Shisui was sent on a mission to get me out of here."

"Rank?"

"A promotion every six months." He opened his eyes wider in shock. "Look, I'm...was Yagura's apprentice. I awoke my kekkai genkai when Hoshigaki-san kidnapped me, sensei was training me three days a week, the four other days it was various skilled shinobi from the village, like Zabuza-san until I was a genin, where Yagura decided to do it himself. I stopped counting the number of my chakra exhaustion after three months. The only promotion I ever deserved was to genin. I mean...Konoha and Kiri are so different, that's what I told your brother. In Konoha, you're placed in a team of three under a jounin to learn teamwork and all of that stuff and that's why you're called Konoha softies here. When you graduate in Kiri, at least until we reform it, you were sent on solo missions because a shinobi from the Bloody Mist makes sure the mission is a success, even if you die. We're placed in a three-man team when we're considered for the Chuunin Exams to learn teamwork. Now, if I tell you I was directly placed in a team under Mei-sensei, you know what it means, right?"

"You were given promotions before you had the level."

"Bingo! For the Chuunin Exams, I had to win the tournament otherwise Yagura would punish me. I was against Mangetsu in the finals. He let me win. I was so spent from my fight with Yasuo, and anyway he was stronger than me. The three of us were promoted, but on the way back, we were attacked by shinobi from Kumo. You know how they are with kekkai genkai users, I showed too much during the Exams. I got my spot in their Bingo Book, and Iwa followed soon. My promotion to jounin was...more traumatizing."

"How so?" Quickly, his expression turned to a concerned one. "If you don't want to go into details it's fi..."

"Hey, I know a lot on your shinobi career, it's only fair to share mine, isn't it?"

"Still, if...it's clear you didn't want to be a kunoichi to begin with Akane. If you're not comfortable..."

"Do I seem uncomfortable to you?" He shook his head 'no'. "It's in the past anyway, it was another era. Back to the story. I...you need to know I tried to leave Kiri five times Itachi."

"You would have been killed." I smirked at his statement.

"Yeah, but I wasn't because I was 'too valuable' and it just fueled the hatred people had and still have toward me." He opened his mouth to say something but I raised my hand to stop him. "Look, Shisui is actually in his good right to worry over how people treat me here sometimes but I'll go over this later." He stared for a couple of seconds, not bothering to hide the glint of concern in his eyes. "On my fifth attempt, Dai and Mangetsu decided to help me. I reached to border to be stopped by Yagura himself. The slash there was in the forehead protector I wore during the attack was made at that moment. I had been a chuunin for two months. Four months later, during a routine patrol, we were targeted by oinin. Lots of them. I won't go into details, I don't remember half of it, but I remember ending up in a cave with my shine bone poking out of my leg, Dai panicking because he wanted to save me at all cost and Mangetsu staying at the entrance of the cave with Himarekarei in his hands, ready to strike. It was Yagura's punishment for me trying to defect and for them to help me. In the end, when he threatened them, I dropped on my knees and bowed, my head on the floor, and begged him to spare them in exchange of my eternal loyalty to him." I closed my eyes, not handling Itachi's eyes anymore. "Six months after, I was sent on a mission that would determine my integration into the ANBU, I was thirteen. During the mission, I met Shisui and his team, that my mom hired to get me. You know what happened next."

He stayed silent, so I opened my eyes. He was staring at his clenched fists on the white sheet covering his legs. Honestly? I was...touched he was so concerned over my past, but I was over it. It happened decades ago to me.

I put my hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, I'm touched you seem so concerned, but what happened happened. No need to cry over it now when you can't change it. It was the Bloody Mist, but I survived. That's what matters. Yagura counted on my will to survive to make me stronger, and even if I hate to admit it, it worked, even if I did some terrible things for it."

"You're a survivor then?" he asked quietly. I sighed softly, my gaze on the white ceiling.

"Well...my big brother died protecting me. He was sick, yes, but ultimately it wasn't what killed him. Since that day I promised myself I wouldn't soil his memory by dying a useless death. Dying for Kiri would have been a useless death."

"That's right, you had a brother." I hummed in confirmation. "You don't talk about him."

"I don't see the point of talking about the dead with people who didn't know them. No offense."

"None taken", he retorted, looking at me. "It's just I was shocked when I saw Sasuke going to the cemetery with flowers one day, so I followed him and saw the grave. Not long after Akiko-san put his picture at her place."

"Oh. What did Sasuke tell you?"

"He was your brother and died before you came to Konoha. He said the rest was a secret between you and him." I nodded with a gentle smile tugging at the corner of my lips.

"He's a good kid." Itachi smiled fondly at that. "You wanna know about Fubuki then? I mean...I wouldn't have told Sasuke but at the time it seemed like the only thing that would calm his anger toward you and Fugaku-san." He frowned at that.

"What are you talking about?"

"You're not the best at respecting your promises, and Fugaku-san didn't know he had awakened the Sharingan, did he?" Understanding flashed in Itachi's eyes and he sighed deeply. "I told Sasuke about Fubuki because my brother was a genius too. He...all I can say really is that he could mix his Ice Release with fuinjutsu and that I can't do it. A lot of people kept telling me Fubuki would have been better than me, even dead I was just his replacement and couldn't leave his shadow. I saw that in Sasuke too and told him that in time he'd be great."

"And that's it?"

"Sometimes the only thing we need to get better is that someone sees us for ourselves," I whispered softly. "Unfortunately, it's pretty much the only things I can tell you about my brother. I...I've been hearing stuff about my family I wasn't aware of, Yagura had forbidden anyone to tell me anything about the years I spent in Kiri when I was baby and it seems like the adults all agreed on a particular version to say."

"They wanted to protect you and your innocence." I pursed my lips, watching the thick mist outside through the window. "It's normal to do that for the youngest." I didn't comment on it and the door was opened behind me. I looked above my shoulder and stood up at the sight of Shizune-san and Dai.

"I should leave." I didn't though, because Itachi caught my wrist. I looked down and he let go quickly, realizing it was my left one, the one he almost broke. Not that I...well, I cared, but right now he was calm so it was okay, I wasn't scared of anything. I just felt bad at the guilt lingering deep in his eyes. "Itachi?"

"Stay," he whispered, but everyone heard it anyway. I shot a look at Shizune-san, who nodded. Silently, I sat next to him and he moved a little so that I was completely on the bed.

Itachi was in a foreign village after all, and I was the familiar face he saw everyday, that he wanted it or not. He was seriously sick, of course he would want someone to be here.

Huh…

Mikoto-san wouldn't let him out of her sight once he was back in Konoha.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to NguyetMieu, kankananime123, mikan26, Chamele and ahuvati for the reviews! **

**Bye!**


	56. Rehabilitation Arc: Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **PS: I have rewritten and poste the first chapter of this fic and will slowly rewrite the first Arc.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 13**

 **Shisui: 22**

 **Kakashi: 27**

* * *

It was sunny.

The funerals happened. Itachi had been able to go. Now the second one just ended, the mist was pierced by a beam of sunlight. The sky was clearing out slowly.

It was sunny in Kiri, almost as if to tell us we had bright days in front of us.

I was the last one to leave. Naoto and I stayed for a long time in front of Yagura's grave. When I apologized to Naoto for killing Yagura, he put his hand on my head, thanking me instead. His dad was dead, but died being himself and free.

I didn't shed a tear though. Strange knowing I was a cry baby by nature.

When I left the cemetery, I was surprised to see Mom talking with Utakata-senpai. Right, learning about Itachi's condition and how Kiri was over with the Bloody Mist, she convinced Tsunade-san to let her come with Shizune-san ans her team. We haven't really spoken to each other, we hugged for a long moment when I saw her and that was it.

I walked up to them when they were hugging. I cleared my throat.

"Sorry but I don't want senpai as my step-dad." They stopped hugging and my serious gaze went back and forth between them. "So? You know each other?"

"It was nice seeing you again and well Utakata-kun, I'll have a word with my daughter now." He nodded and actually patted my shoulder when he left. I followed him with my eyes, staring at him as if a second head had grown suddenly, and gazed at Mom with wide eyes, my thumb toward senpai. "What?"

"He always tells me I'm an eyesore and that I'm annoying. What did you do to him?"

"Nothing at all. He just told me you were doubting things about yourself." I frowned and crossed my arms over my chest.

"I got Yagura to talk to me you know." She widened her eyes at that. "He implied I didn't know a lot of things about our family and that you'd tell me, Naoto said the same when he refused to tell me. So, mother dearest, what did you hide?" She looked at the ground for a solid second and turned around.

"Follow me Akane." I did, for minutes. I raised a brow when I realized we were going toward the ghost district, spared from the fights. I slowed down when I saw a gate with the Yuki clan crest above it. "I won't wait for you."

When we stopped, we were in front of an old and dilapidated house. It was a traditional one, like the Uchiha's or Mangetsu's, but smaller.

"I was...we were twenty-two when your brother was born. Uzushio was destroyed during the Second War and my parents asked your father and his mother to take me with them in a desperate attempt to protect me. We left Kiri at the age of twenty-seven. Kushina left the village when she was seven and when I was sixteen, Uzushio was destroyed. I spent eleven years of my life here, in a village that partook in mine's destruction. It wasn't easy, but your grandparents and your dad welcomed me. The whole Yuki clan welcomed me as one of their own. How could I not fall in love with your father when he was so optimistic and caring?" I bit my bottom lip with furrowed brows. I could hear the tangible feelings in her voice, how it was wavering and how she was holding back her tears. "We eloped at nineteen, your father was already a jounin recognized by his comrades, Yagura was just the same and they formed a terrible duo. They always bickered, much like Sasuke and Naruto, but Yagura was more extrovert than Sasuke though. I lied when I said I was a Seal Master back in Uzushio, I never officially had the title. Your grandmother finished my training. Around...around a year after your brother was born, lively and healthy like any Uzumaki, with bright red hair, the first signs of Kiri sinking into what you've known appeared. It was war, but the Sandaime had started to exploit people with kekkai genkai, treating them like tools and not people. Your grandfather, Fuyuki-san, he stood up to the Sandaime in the end, after sharing his fears of what his beloved village was slowly turning into. He was executed in public for that, and your grandmother tried to save him but she was killed too. In front of us, in front of your father. He never truly was the same after that. He trained your brother from the moment he could walk, as an Uzumaki and Yuki. We discovered he was a genius quickly, like the Sandaime. He pushed him to be a genin as soon as he could, even with the graduation exam of the time. He took it. He succeeded. It was a week before your birth. He awakened his Ice Release because he was scared to die, and when I saw my baby coming back with that broken look in his eyes and asking me how he could wash all of this red away, I went into labor. After seeing so much death, you were a blessing for him, for us. The same day, Dai-kun was born. The Terumis and the Hōzukis visited me, like Yagura and Naoto."

"Yagura said he was supposed to be my godfather."

"He was. We wanted him to be. Actually, the two jinchuriki of the time came to visit us too, like Utakata-kun. He was Fubuki's best friend. For a short period of time, the war outside was forgotten. Two babies were born, it was euphoria. It stopped when they started to send your brother and father on the battlefield. Ushio never left Fubuki alone, but he still got the nickname of 'Fubuki of the Explosive Snow' among the villagers and shinobi of Kiri, the bright future Kiri had ahead. At the same time, your father and Yagura were both considered as the possible Yondaime. However, the Rokubi jinchuriki was starting to weaken. As you know, jinchuriki are chosen among the Kage's relative. Fubuki...was already sick, infected by the same virus Itachi-kun has today. But...you weren't, you were healthy, and lively, and had a great potential."

I felt cold sweat running down my back and I started to breath faster. That...that…

"Ushio wanted the hat, he wanted to change that village back to what his father and mother loved. But you would become a jinchuriki in return. It was the one thing he couldn't accept. It was the last straw for him. When you were one, we left. Yagura figured something was strange and stopped us at the border. Your dad told us to go first, and when he joined us, unharmed, he told me Yagura let him go without trying to stop him if Ushio made sure Kiri would never find us. We settled down in the Land of Hot Water. It was...quiet, for a while. There was war, but Ushio often went on patrols to make sure we were safe. Fubuki kept following him. One day, from what he told me, he met a shinobi from Konoha with his team, the man had blond hair and blue eyes. One of his student, already a chuunin, tried to attack Ushio but he stopped him with his chains, and Fubuki had already immobilized the other two with ice. But the man..." She chuckled. "The man was smart and recognized the Uzumaki Adamantine Chains, as his girlfriend had the same. I swear, two weeks later, I had a crying Kushina in my arms. I was crying too, and you were hiding behind a corner of the wall. Obito-kun was the first one to spot you and called you adorable, taking you in his arms without even asking you. You freaked out and Minato came to help. I don't know what happened at that moment, but you were glued to your savior and Minato immediately had a soft spot for you. It was clear, as Kushina decided we wouldn't be separated again by war, that he would be your godfather. Ushio and him got along very well, and they worked together on seals, on space-time jutsu. Kakashi-kun would spar against your brother and Rin-chan always looked over him. It was nice to have such a lively household when they were visiting. One day, Obito-kun wasn't there. After that, Rin-chan was nowhere to be seen. You cried for them."

"I remember that," I mumbled weakly. "I remember crying for them."

"Yes. I...I should have noticed the changes in Ushio's behavior. At some point when you were four, Fubuki's health deteriorated too much. I decided to go look for Tsunade-san and Kushina negotiated with the Third Hokage to help me. He agreed, and I left you two with your father. Minato and Kakashi-kun came to visit you. Next thing I know, we were at the Eien Hansen and I was holding my baby boy's bloody corpse, you traumatized in Kakashi-kun's arms and Minato bleeding heavily, him and Kushina sealing my husband in a space-time jutsu in this tower, Tsunade-san unable to do anything for us. You know what happened next."

I wiped away a tear from my cheek with the sleeve of my long-sleeved blue shirt. I knew for a fact how hard it was to open up to your children like that.

I was never able to do it.

"Were you..." I started in a passive voice. I coughed to clear my throat. "Were you ever planning on telling me before today?"

"When Shisui-kun brought you back, when I saw you were changed, you were a Yurei, I thought about it. You were an adult inside, you could take it, understand. However, you had just 'arrived' in this time, I wanted you to get used to this world, to us again, to me. Then Naruto arrived, and I couldn't find the strength to tell you. I should have, I'm sorry for keeping you in the dark for so long."

"Don't Mom. You've had your fair share of hardships, you wanted to protect your daughter, that's...that's just an instinct."

"You would know about it, wouldn't you?" she asked me, turning to look at me. She was crying. I looked at my feet and nodded. "You missed them, don't you?"

"How do you know it's a 'them'?"

"I heard you say their name in your sleep once." Oh. "Their father?"

"They called Sasuke 'uncle'." I smiled sadly at her surprise.

"This...explains a lot about your early behavior. He died, didn't he?"

"He never knew I was pregnant to begin with. I discovered it when I heard he died."

I walked up to her when she opened her arms to me and was engulfed in a motherly and warm hug. She cried silently on my shoulder and I did the same on hers.

"You know, maybe talking about this other timeline would do you some good." I snorted.

"I don't know Mom, it will never happen here. What's the point of...never mind."

* * *

"It's not as if I had decided you know," I told Itachi while I was rummaging through what I got from my place, Haku doing the same in the room next to the one we were in. Itachi was sitting on a chair in front of me, his crutch next to him against the wall and he was clearly annoyed and didn't bother to hide it. "I mean, I thought I would crash at Dai's or senpai's, but sensei didn't give me a choice. I'm not that happy to go back to my old room at Yagura's place, but we're short on housing so..."

"You're babysitting me," he cut me off, his arms crossed over his chest and his legs stretched out in front of him. "You've been ordered to babysit me."

"Would you rather have someone you don't know?"

"I'd rather not be babysat at all." Itachi was pouting. He was pouting at the decisions that had been made.

"I don't enjoy it either, trust me, but at least you're out of the hospital. You're sick, you know it's for your own good. I mean...it's Shizune-san's order." He averted his eyes to the side and clicked his tongue. "It's two weeks, then we leave for Konoha. You're home in three weeks."

"Hn."

"Scared of your mother?"

"You don't know how she is when Sasuke or I get sick, this time it will be worst."

"Deal with it like a man and stop complaining like a baby." I snickered at the offense on his face.

"I don..." I went in front of him, my hands on my hips. I bent over so that my face was right in front of his.

"I didn't say it was a bad thing. You're seriously sick Itachi, you complaining about such trivial things is much better than you retreating into silence and pretending like it was nothing like I thought you would." He stared straight into my eyes for a second and smiled softly, lowering his head a little.

"If I were to act accordingly to my health, you wouldn't mind then?" I blinked and straightened up.

"Huh...no?" I wasn't sure...his smile vaguely reminded me of something not really enjoyable but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"If I were to ask you to do something for me because I'm sick, you would do it then?" He opened his eyes and I took a step back. Yeah, yeah that smile was my son's smile when he had something in mind.

"You...you're evil!" I screamed, pointing an accusing finger at him. He dared look innocent.

"I'm sick."

"It's not because I said your behavior was reassuring that you shouldn't care about your condition for fuck sake!" He raised a brow.

"I care about my condition, I don't want to die." I was about to say something but he grabbed his crutch and stood up, towering me by a few centimeters. "But Tsunade-sama will heal me, so it's fine. My mother will care about my condition enough for my entire family, so why would I show I'm concerned about it?"

"That's a fucked up way of thinking Uchiha." He shrugged. "Anyway, I'll take you to your room."

The house was big and mainly gray because of the stone walls. It was a typical house in Kiri, in a cylindrical shape. I dropped Itachi at the room he would sleep in for the next two weeks.

"My room is a door away, the one in-between is the bathroom. You've just seen the way to the living-room. The kitchen and dining-room are where Haku was. If you have any questions, don't hesitate."

"I have one," he told me as I was about to go to my old room. I looked at him expectantly. He was frowning now. "Do you remember anything from when I came to get you?" I pursed my lips in thoughts and took my chin between my fingers.

"Honestly no, Isobu's chakra in my body and my exhaustion, plus the fever I had because of how soaked I was...it's blurry. I remember being on the bird, I'm pretty sure I gave them the finger too..." He deadpanned at me. "And...there was a fire and I froze my arm to stop the chakra from spreading. Oh, and I remember thinking that you were strangely talkative." He kept his mouth shut for a couple of seconds. "Oh sh...Itachi, what did I say?" I was starting to worry over what I could have told him. "Tell me, what did I sa...wow!" I yelped in surprise when he grabbed my arm, firmly enough to drag me but not enough to hurt me. If I wanted, I could get away from him.

He sat down on the bed and I did the same next to him, my right foot tucked under my left thigh.

"You had another episode." I gaped at that. "You said the whole world was fake." Oh fu… "That we were...keeping you from going home." I looked down at my hands, grasping tightly the fabric of my pants. "You tried to slit your throat too." I took a deep breath. "And...you asked me why you weren't enough because you were in love with him but he still left you behind." My elbows on my knees, I raised my arms and grabbed my face. What a...it was already a lot more than he should know.

"If...If I say I was just rambling because of my pathetic state at the moment, you believe me?"

"Not really," he replied quietly. I sighed and stood up.

"You won't forget it either?"

"It's hard to forget." I rolled my eyes. "You really can't go home?"

"It's too out of reach, for anyone. I don't hate it here, or Konoha, but...once you find home, it's hard to consider another place as such too." I looked above my shoulder. His elbows were resting on his knees and his arms were dangling between them, onyx eyes staring at me thoughtfully.

Fuck, that idiot was still hot, looking so relaxed and nonchalant like that.

"Even if it's hard, you should try to reach it." Quietly, he added. "If there's someone who can get out of a situation they don't want to be into it's you." I smirked a little at that.

"Well, should I be hurt you're trying to make me leave?" He was taken back and I raised a brow at the guilt in his eyes. "Hey, it's a joke. I won't leave until the Akatsuki is buried six-feet underground. I'll go to my room now, bye."

I stayed the back against my door once I was in my room. When I came back, Yagura didn't want to see me at his place, so everything was still the same as it was when I left for the mission where I went KIA. I walked over to the desk, still covered in amateurish seals prototypes. I pushed them on the side and my finger traced a bar carved in the wood. One for each days spent in Kiri at the time.

More than seven hundreds.

I fell on my bed and let the mask fall. I crossed an arm over my eyes and scowled.

Itachi was sick and letting him see how I really felt was the last thing I wanted, especially now he knew what he knew. I wondered how he thought the man I was in love with was.

Still, I didn't want him to know I felt terrible because everything was dawning on me. Mangetsu's death, Yagura's death, turning Haku into a jinchuriki.

Haku...who was better than I thought he would be. He talked with Zabuza-san before the attack and, from what he told me, even if the latter wasn't there anymore, his dream was and he would achieve it and protect it. It was good though.

Reassuring.

In the night, I woke up with a start, sweating profusely and panicked eyes looking all around me. A nightmare...it was just a nightmare.

The night after, I had another one, so I just stopped trying to go back to sleep once I was awake. I would spend the rest of the night in front of Yagura's grave.

"It's for a minute," I told Itachi as we were climbing the stairs to sensei's office. "Then I'm proving you takoyakis are way better than dangos!"

"Do you sleep well?" I stopped and gazed at him with surprise.

"Wh...what?" I spluttered. He frowned.

"I take that as a 'no'." I stared at him and scowled, almost running up the stairs. He followed me, but with his leg still recovering, he was slower than me and it was exactly what I was hoping for. Fucking Uchiha, fucking observant shinobi!

"What's the rush?" sensei asked me in a puzzled voice at me slamming the door behind me.

"Why did you want to see me?" I retorted, keeping my irritation to a minimum. She raised a brow but chose to change the subject. A paper was handed to me. "Alright...I have a bad feeling now, is it justified?"

"Depends, did you forget to tell me something about your stay in Konoha? Let's say, before the Third Stage of the Chuunin Exams?" I froze and started reading the paper in the blink of an eye.

The emblem of Konoha was in the top left corner and Tsunade-san's signature was at the bottom. It was a letter, a direct letter from the Hokage to the Mizukage that asked, not for a transfer, but for me to serve as a Konoha shinobi. Sensei had just repealed the law that...Not that I blamed her, with how I joined Kiri, I legally could leave.

" **I didn't want my Will to be used like that** ," Minato said in the back of my head with annoyance.

" _I know, but with what I know, Tsunade-san was_ _n't_ _going to miss her chance, and with the reputation I have now, the Elders wouldn't either. I'm more beneficial than I was three years ago._ "

" **I know that, but Tsunade-sama wrote down all of the conditions. Basically, you just have to sign and...Akane, I don't want you to do that. It was another time, too many things happened for you to...** "

" _Calm down, I wasn't planning on accepting, this cooled me down. I don't like being seen as a tool._ "

"Akane?" sensei called with concern. I flashed her a grin.

"I'm good sensei. The Sandaime had offered me a position and I didn't tell you because I didn't think it was relevant. Although...he just said I wouldn't be refused, this," I showed her the paper, "this is a whole another level. I'm honored she directly wants to make me a jounin, but...what she offers is the same than what I already have here."

"Does it mean I can order the removal of your grave? Finally?" I blinked at her angry eyes.

"It bothers you that much?"

"Enough people are buried as it is," her cold voice replied harshly. I stared at her, dumbfounded and shocked at her outburst and she realized it as she sent me an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"It's alright..." I mumbled.

"You know, with the letter sent so quickly, it made me think. Shisui-kun is not the only shinobi she could have sent, isn't he?"

"Well, he's recognized as one of the strongest Uchihas alive so...what are you getting at?"

"That you both care a lot about each other. I'm wondering if sending him here doesn't hide something else. You made up, sure, but it could have gone the opposite way."

"Are you seriously insinuating Shisui was chosen because he could have coaxed me into joining Konoha?" Man...that...that was believable actually. Sensei looked at her paperwork, her cheek in her hand.

"I'm not saying he was aware of it though."

"Sure but...it's messed up."

"She's the Hokage, if there's a chance she can have a good element joining her ranks, it's something that could have be done, and I wouldn't have been able to try to make you stay." We sighed in sync.

"Have I ever mentioned...I hated the system?"

"It came up once or twice...a day until your became chuunin, then it was a weakly occurrence." I wrinkled my nose. Yep, sounded like me. "Would you like me to send them your answer or do you want to give it yourself when you're in Konoha?"

"Let me tell them myself."

I waved at her and left, Itachi leaning on the wall in front the door. I grinned in front of his glare. In the end, he sighed and followed me.

People stared when we were in the street. I was uncomfortable, that much was clear. So clear Itachi got closer to me, his shoulder grazing mine. I shot him a look, silently apologizing for being so needy recently. He smiled gently at me, his watchful eyes filled with comprehension.

I didn't deserve that with all of things I've done. I had...I had too much baggage and him not enough. It...there was a silent agreement between old Itachi and I. No judgment, even if we had never said it out loud, never admitted it, we knew the other did awful things. It was public knowledge concerning old Itachi, he was smart enough to have figured out what I had done in the Bloody Mist.

This Itachi...had such a bright future in front of him.

I didn't want to take that away from him. He had a family, friends, a girlfriend, was recognized for his skills...he had everything for him today. I just needed to make sure he'd live to see his twenty-second birthday.

"Oh, Uzumaki-chan!" the restaurant owner greeted me.

"Hey old man! Two Kiri specials please!"

"Coming right up!"

We sat at a table in the corner of the restaurant, away from prying eyes. I knew all of the places to be as discreet as possible in this village anyway.

"What did you order?"

"Trust me Itachi!" Two bowls of seafood donburi were placed in front of us, with two trays of still fuming takoyaki and some daifuku. "It's not surprising culinary specialties are seafood related, is it?"

"It explains your love for takoyaki." With a quick thanks, we started to dig in. Naruto had Ichiraku, I had this place. We ate in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes until I felt a pair of eyes on me. I looked up and narrowed my eyes at the shinobi coming our way. He seemed vaguely familiar, but not in a good way. In the 'your Dad would have saved the village and you have to pay for him leaving, you're the Yondaime's apprentice' kind of way though? Sure.

"Uzumaki," he greeted me with fake cheerfulness. "Me and other shinobi are throwing a party tonight, it would be our pleasure if you came." A party? The people I called friends in the village were still busy and didn't mention anything. "We would love to have the Hero of Kiri among us."

"...Hero?"

"People call you like that, you killed the Yondaime and freed the village."

"It wouldn't have happened if the Fifth had not bust her ass on the Resistance for the past three years or more. She deserves that title more than me." And why calling me a 'hero' when I killed someone?

"Still, you should come!" I glared coldly at him.

"I won't be among so many hypocrites. Not long ago you still treated me like dirt under your shoes." Yeah, that guy was on that chuunin's side, I remembered now. He frowned and that disgusting cheerfulness disappeared.

"Tch, you stuck-up..." Itachi put his glass of water back on the table in a loud 'bang'. I looked at him, like the guy, finally realizing he was still there and witnessed the whole thing. His eyes were now set of the man and all signs of warmth were gone. It was just coldness.

"She said 'no', leave," he ordered in all of his Uchiha glory. The guy tensed and took a step back, just to bump in Kimou and Dai, who were both grinning way too happily. They heard the conversation.

"My, what's happening here? Someone's bothering you on your date?" Dai asked us. Kimou looked offended and pushed me on the side to sit next to me.

"Stop spouting nonsense about my wife Terumi!" Kimou screeched at him. "And you!" She pointed the guy with a manicured finger. "Leave her alone and get out of here before I make your worst fears reality!" He made a quick getaway, slamming the sliding door behind him. "Damn, now they're ass-lickers?"

"Weren't you among my haters before?" I asked her as I bit on the piece of tuna between the chopsticks she had at my mouth.

"I apologized!" I hummed at that and looked at Itachi, whose eyes were going back and forth between Kimou and I. I showed her with my thumb.

"Right, Itachi, let me introduce you to Kimou. She hated my guts, I saved her life before she joined the Resistance and ever since she's been my number one fan girl and biggest spoke person against Utakata-senpai and his refusal of my love for him." He stared at me for a solid second, then at Kimou when she nuzzled her cheek against mine. "And apparently we're married now."

"It's a question of time honey, only a question of time." Her purple eyes sharpened suddenly, glued into Itachi's onyx ones. "And I won't let another Uchiha get his hands on you. No Uchiha will get his hands on you."

"Come on Kimou, it's public knowledge you don't like Uchihas because of the Sharingan and you being the best at genjutsu in the village," Dai stated idly, sitting next to Itachi. "The same than them old man!"

"Wanna say it even louder?" she growled at him. I deadpanned at them, and at the minuscule smirk on the corner of Itachi's lips. I kicked him in the leg and instead of making him stop, his smirk grew larger. I rolled my eyes at him. He was having his little fun.

"Why are you here you two? I doubt you just came for that." The thunder between their eyes stopped and they turned to me. Dai searched through his back pouch and pulled out a Bingo Book.

"Right, we've received Kumo's new Bingo Book!"

"Kumo, really?" I asked in a sigh, stretching out my hand. "Same page than before?"

"Yeah!" I flipped through the pages and stopped on my picture. Instead of my twelve year-old self's face, it was me now. The book slipped from my hands and my eyes were wide in shock. "That's kind of flashy, isn't it?"

"It...It..." I stuttered.

"It's gonna be okay Uzu," Kimou said next to me. Itachi made a move to take the book, but stopped and looked at Dai. He waved him off, telling him it was okay.

"Konoha never had Uzu in their Bingo Book, the Yondaime didn't want to rub her into your faces that way." Itachi nodded and frowned at my page as my forehead met the wood of the table.

"'Uzumaki Akane, the Bijuu Tamer. Bounty: 40,000,000 ryo'," he read flatly.

"You had a raise when we were seventeen, right? It had gone from 5,000,000 ryo when you became a chuunin to 25,000,000 ryo right?"

"The Raikage is too generous toward me, giving my first bounty and keeping raising it."

"Doesn't that mean shinobi from Kumo witnessed you sealing the Sanbi though?" Itachi asked. I gaped at him with wide eyes whereas Kimou grabbed the book and left in a body flicker. "There is a 'flee on sight' order too."

"I have the exact same bounty Kakashi has...had up until the fight last month."

"Yeah well, remember the difficulty we had leaving the Land of Lightning after the Chuunin Exams? The Raikage saw your potential and with his love for kekkai genkai unlike here..." We sighed in sync with Dai, Itachi attacking his dessert.

Needless to say, sensei freaked out and sent more people at the borders.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to NguyetMieu and kankananime123 for the reviews! And well, Itachi and Izumi dated for three years, Akane doesn't know they broke up and well, it would be logical to her they had sex. I'm still not decided over this yet.**

 **Bye!**


	57. Rehabilitation Arc: Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 13**

 **Shisui: 22**

 **Kakashi: 27**

* * *

"You've been spacing out a lot since that man talked to you," Itachi told me when he was making a few steps without his crutch. Three days and we were leaving. "And you look awful."

"Thanks," I replied with sarcasm. I averted my eyes under his insistent look. "I've been listening a lot more closely to what people say in town. They do call me a 'hero' or 'the future Rokudaime'."

"It's not surprising, considering the part you played." I threw my head back, now against the wall as he sat next to me on the couch. He grabbed my _Icha Icha_ and set it aside. I glared at him. "I don't care about your readings, but don't do that in front of me." I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest. "You still can't sleep."

"Nightmares," I muttered under my breath. "And all of those hypocrites...now that I did something that go along with them, they're all friendly and smiley? It wasn't that long ago they were beating me up in a dead-end because I was walking in the street but they knew I was Yagura's apprentice. Fuck, Yagura did worse all the time. I'm not Naruto, I'm not just going to smile back, embarrassed, and pretend they've always been nice to me!"

"Naruto does that?"

"I mean, the day he'll be recognized, it's what will happen!" I rectified myself quickly. His face stayed blank for a while, way too long for my liking.

"It does sound like him," he finally admitted, making me high-five myself in my mind. "So you're going to ignore them?"

"I can't really beat them up anymore, sensei will scold me. Thanks by the way, for telling him to fuck off."

"I don't recall saying anything like that."

"I heard it like that," I said with a smirk. He chuckled. "Hey, thinking about it, how come you're so relaxed ever since you're awake? Shouldn't you be asking to go to Konoha as soon as you can?" He shrugged.

"I can enjoy a vacation too."

"Where you help me and Haku sorting out how to deal with our clan inheritance?"

"You looked ready to jump out of the window. I didn't want him to deal with it on his own." I punched him lightly in the ribs. He always knew what to say to piss me off that…

Huh…

He had been teasing me a hell lot with all the time we were spending together.

Not good Akane, not good at all. Don't get addicted to any Uchiha, it was bad enough when old Itachi left, or when you had to push Shisui away. Don't get too addicted to Itachi's presence knowing the separation was soon.

Did I even know what I wanted anymore? There were times where I didn't see the logic of my actions. I wanted to stay away from Itachi as much as I could because I wanted him to live his life to the fullest without someone with no future like me, and here I was, slowly falling back into the bubble I was so used to with old Itachi.

I had to pop it before it became too big and popped by itself.

* * *

He should not be doing what he had been doing ever since he woke up in the hospital. Itachi had to admit, asking her to stay when Shizune-san explained his disease to him just to have someone with him had truly been the start of it.

They were spending too much time together. Not that he minded, far from it, but it would make the separation even harder. Even if they were just friends, even if she was alive, soon they would stop being together so much and the distance would be between them.

Still, he did not want it to stop. He was enjoying every seconds spent with his old friend, especially now she was not hiding the kunoichi part of her to him anymore. She seemed freer in a way. Also, she did not mind talking about herself to a certain degree, which, he had to admit, surprised him. He was still walking on eggshells with how he was turning his sentences and what words would be the best. He didn't want her to withdraw into herself by saying something she would take the wrong way.

It had already happened with Izumi and she had screamed at him for being indifferent about how people took his words.

He still had to approach the sensitive subject of her knowing about the Uchiha coup and how. They still had to approach their fight at the hideout. He still had to apologize for raising his hand against her.

She seemed happy to ignore it, but they had to talk about it. He would not let her prevent him from apologizing like when he saw her back in Konoha.

Going back into his old habit of stalking her may not be the best way to do that though, but he still did. She mentioned nightmares that kept her from sleeping, explaining the dark circles under her eyes.

Him being in the cemetery of Kiri at two in the morning with her sitting quietly in front of the Yondaime's grave was not that weird. He was repeating it like a mantra in his head. It was not that weird and he was not acting like a creepy guy stalking an emotionally distressed girl in the middle of the night.

Itachi took a deep breath, the ridiculousness of the situation making him walk up to her. It was just Akane, he could talk to her without being so concerned of what he would say. He was being stupid and Shisui would laugh at him for that.

He was just a few meters away from her when she turned her head to him. When she realized it was him, she widened her eyes in shock and hid her face.

"Why...why are you..." she stuttered weakly as he sat down next to her.

"It's okay to finally cry, it would be concerning if you did not." Big ugly tears were running down her cheeks, her sleeve under her nose as she kept snorting in what people would call an unladylike way. Not that he cared about that.

"Why is it...is it always you who...who see me in these...these situations?" She hugged her knees closer to her chest, her face hidden behind them. He probably should hug her and let her cry on his shoulder, but he found himself unable to move. He had a gift for always being here when she didn't want him to. After a few minutes where she sobbed and he just sat next to her without saying a word, she slammed her fists on the ground, an angry scowl on her face. "How can they call me a 'hero' when I killed someone!? I'm a fucking murderer, we all are, no shinobi will ever be a hero! Why are they so fucking dumb!?" She turned angry brown eyes, still shining with tears, to him. "I mean, the system is rotten to the core! It makes us see this stupid symbol on these stupid headbands instead of the people wearing them like you did!" He frowned slightly and glared at the ground. "You know what's the worse? It hurt me, of course, but I just can't bring myself to be mad at you because with all that shinobi bullshit I have in my head, your reaction was nothing but logic to me! I...I want to be mad at you but I just can't!"

"I'm sorry though," he said quietly, stopping her sobbing. "I'm sorry for your wrist, I shouldn't have lost my calm so fast."

"Don't, if I hadn't tried to hold you back, it wouldn't have happened. I was stupid and I'm sorry for playing dumb in Konoha, but I couldn't exactly come up to you and say I knew! Or that I was a missing-nin, we all know how that turned out!"

"I knew long before you left," he whispered, but he still got her attention. She blinked rapidly at him, confused. "Remember the festival? I already knew."

"You...you never..." He shrugged.

"It's not it was not important, but it didn't seem to have any impact so I never brought it up." New tears started to spill from her eyes.

"I failed at seeing that too then? I'm a bigger failure than I thought!" Itachi's eyes softened and he put his hand in her hair.

"You're not a failure." She slapped his hand away, watery eyes shooting daggers at him.

"Oh really!? I failed leaving this place five time and got my friends in danger because of that! Sasuke and Naruto were taken by the Foundation because of _me_! I never told you anything because that stupid brain of yours and how it works scare the shit out of me and it hurt you in the end! I failed at hiding in Konoha and almost caused a fucking war! I failed at everything concerning Shisui and pushed him away, hurt him and asked him to be happy with someone else because there's no way I can give him what he wants and deserves with the pitiful state I'm in!" Shisui just told him he talked with Akane, not they mentioned a possible relationship.

It was none of his business, they were his friends and it was something between them only. There was no reason for him to feel a painful lump in his throat.

It was uncalled-for.

"I failed at following orders and the result was the same. Mangetsu, he..." she pointed toward a row of grave close to them, her lips trembling. "My best friend's grave is over there and I failed him. I failed him like I failed my master, I'm failing at truly be happy since he's dead because all I can see is his blood on my hands, the blood of all the innocents that Uchiha made me kill. Fuck, I failed at dying so many time but I'm failing at living because I can't detach myself from the past! I failed you because you're sick because of me, because of my village, because of my country whereas you had nothing to do with it, nothing to win in this matter! I fail at being a friend, at being a daughter, and people I love keep dying or leaving and I'm always left behind and alone and..."

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her against him, his right arm around her waist and keeping her from moving as his left hand was in her hair, auburn, now browner, locks slipping through his fingers. He was the first to criticize himself, but he hated how powerless she made him feel with her speech.

"How much..." he started slowly, Akane's forehead against his shoulder and her body frozen against him. "How much have you kept for yourself for the past years?" She hiccuped of surprise. "How spent are you exactly?"

"The ANBU made everything so much worse, they wanted to turn me into an emotionless tool like before and used the principles Minato-oji taught me against me. It..."

The principles of a Hokage would never go along with the Bloody Mist.

"I...I killed children, I was sent on missions with the Swordsmen when I wasn't even a genin yet to get me used to the battlefield and later I killed children...children of my own clan and...and...you don't know how it feels, to kill people from your clan, right?"

"I don't," he replied quietly with furrowed brows. She pulled her head back to look at him with a broken smile. Itachi widened his eyes a little when her cold hand touched his cheek.

"Isn't...isn't it wonderful? That you don't know how it feels to have the blood of your own relatives on your hands? It's a great feeling, isn't it? I don't remember how it feels...because I still wake up at night because of what I did...and the worst part is that I killed so many people their faces are blurry now...see, I'm a failure, I can't even remember the faces of my victims..."

"Akane..."

"But...but you don't know how it feels so that's good."

"Why would I know how it feels?" he asked coldly, catching her off-guard. "There's always been something about you that irked me, and it's how you seem, even today, making assumptions on me as if I had given you a reason to when I'm sure I haven't." She retreated her hand and looked away, as if she was caught red-handed. He was spot on. "I'm sure it has something to do with your knowledge of the coup and why my father doesn't seem to mind it. You're having a breakdown and it's not the ideal moment, but you've been spilling hints for a while. I don't need yours or Shisui's protection, stop keeping me in the dark." He bit the inside of his cheek. Akane had been an open book, maybe he needed to speak out more too to make it equal. "I want to move on from this too, I can't do it if I don't know why you know about it." Something akin to understanding flashed through her eyes and she wiped her eyes and nose.

"I didn't know it still haunted you. But..."

"Are you a seer?" he asked her without thinking. Her confused face made him realize how desperate he must have sounded and he felt a blush creeping up his neck.

"I...I guess you could put it like that in a way..." she admitted quietly, staring at his face with astonishment. "How long..."

"Too long."

"You don't find that...weird? Unbelievable? That I'm crazy?"

"It's the most believable thing about you actually." She was about to say something, but looked all around her instead. "Let's go back." He let go of her and stood up. He stretched out his hand to help her up, but after a few seconds of just staring at it, Akane got up on her own.

"Sorry, but...don't be nice for now, you might regret it afterward."

However, once they were sitting on her bed and that Itachi was looking around her room, she was quiet as the grave.

"Akane," he called her tiredly and she started.

"I'm not a seer, I swear!" He stared at her with a brow raised at her outburst. She flushed in shame. "I...I mean...I don't have visions or anything but...but it's more like someone told me stuff."

"Someone," he repeated curtly, "someone told you stuff. How..." He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose for a second. "Alright, someone told you things then. Shisui knows their identity?"

"Heh? Yeah but...I shouldn't have told him anything, I acted on the spur of the moment, without thinking about it." She crossed her hands together, playing with her thumbs. "I shouldn't have told him something so big, it's not his secret to deal with but he has been doing that for fiv...no, six years now."

"Akane," he said again and she wrinkled her nose. His patience was wearing thin.

"So...someone told me a lot of stuff...on things that would have happened until the year where we both turn twenty-two. I can't and won't tell you about what's in the future, what could happen or not because I have no idea how it will change, and most of all because when I arrived in Konoha, I told everything to the Sandaime and Tsunade-san knows everything too." He pursed his lips.

"I have to wait then." She nodded.

"The first...the first thing that would have happened and what I told Shisui immediately was...Danzou." She turned to him and put her finger under his eye. Itachi's face turned impassible. "He would have stolen one of them and because your plan was ruined, Shisui...Shisui would have given you his other eyes before killing himself in front of you, making you awaken the Mangekyou."

Alright.

That was…

Alright.

"Itachi?"

"Keep going," he ordered coldly, caring more about calming his racing heart than her. Shisui would have…

Of course she wouldn't have been able to keep it for herself. It was too urgent.

"Well...because of that the coup was going to happen and the Elders, more like Danzou, gave you a choice. They were going to wipe out the whole clan, and, or you could be among them and be killed, or you could do it yourself and spare Sasuke."

"So I killed them all," Itachi whispered in a passive voice. He vaguely felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You did," she confirmed and he stood up, pacing nervously in front of her.

He would have killed them all. All of them except for Sasuke. His family, his clan against his village. Suddenly, he understood why Akane was not surprised he had acted that way.

He could have made that choice on a bigger scale.

He did not know what was the funniest in a morbid way: that he would have obeyed or that he wasn't even that surprise he would have been given such an order.

"After?"

"Itachi, maybe you should..."

"After!?" he barked at her, ignoring the obvious worry on her face.

"You join the Akatsuki as a spy for Konoha, set Sasuke on a path of revenge and hatred to kill you and assume the rank of internationally wanted S-rank missing-nin. After the crush of Konoha, you come back with Hoshigaki-san to take a look at Naruto, send Kakashi into a super brutal torture genjutsu oblivion and do the same with Sasuke when he finds you with Naruto."

"Your father is Hoshigaki Kisame's partner."

"Well that's..."

"Akane."

"Hey, I changed one thing and the Butterfly Effect happened! I'm not responsible in how the universe is compensating what changed! Shisui being alive gave Mangetsu almost three more years as he was supposed to die the day he met him! I know, when he was poisoned he confessed it wasn't the first time!" At this point, she was standing up and her fists were clenched in frustration. "Things changed and keep changing and I'm trying to keep up and adapt with what I was told. That's why Tsunade-san asked me and Kiri to take Sasuke in if he tried anything, he...he would have succeeded otherwise, nobody was there to stop him after Naruto. It's...it's a fucked up situation Itachi. I should have known it would be fucked up the moment I set foot in Konoha."

"What was your life then?" he asked her in a hollow voice. She sighed.

"I would have resumed my life with Mom and tended to the mental wounds Kiri gave me, up until I was sixteen, seventeen. At that moment, the...the Akatsuki would have sent Sasori to...I would have crushed on him and not be careful enough and he killed Mom. I went completely numb to the world around me after that and gave a big middle-finger to anything shinobi related."

"You stayed retired then," he murmured. "You weren't thrown back into it, you stayed away."

"Itachi..."

"I'm sorry."

"What fo...Itachi?" His back to her, he snorted quietly.

"I'm sorry." She sighed behind him.

"Don't, I didn't do it just for you. Konoha was the place my uncle loved the most, that welcomed my aunt. She was friends with your mother! The Uchiha clan was part of that picture and I felt like I owned it to them to talk if it could help." She clicked her tongue and sneaked in front of him, cupping his cheeks to make him look at her.

"I'm sorry," he repeated, eyes closed as a tear escaped one of them, rolling down to his chin.

"You didn't do anything, don't be. I'm in the middle of a breakdown, but I'll get better. I always do ultimately."

"Why you though…?"

"It doesn't matter, it fell upon my shoulders and I'm acting accordingly to it. Don't cry, nothing happened and you didn't do anything, they're all alive and you...you still can go home. Fugaku-san grabbed me by my collar and lifted me from the floor when he learned his sons would kill one another, it made him rethink things quickly." He nodded and wiped his tears away with his thumb. "Me going back to Kiri...was an unexpected turn of events, sure, but the Resistance was ready faster as I had information about the Uchiha and there will be an alliance, so that's cool!"

"You know who he is." It was not an accusation, merely a statement. Her face became distant.

"I do, in time you will too. We still need proofs. So far, I still need to report what I saw in the fight. He can phase through things and attacks don't really..." Itachi grabbed her arms with wide, alarm eyes.

"Really?"

"Yeah, and then after my fight with Yagura gave me a speech and left when Kakashi arrived, saying he was always here at the wrong moment."

"And he knew Kakashi-san?" She nodded and yelped when she was crushed against his chest.

"It...Itachi? You know him?"

"He killed my teammate when I was a genin," he whispered quickly. She tensed in his arms when he hugged her tighter. "That's how I got the Sharingan, because he killed Tenma and now he..."

She placed her hands on his waist and walked toward the bed, making him fall on it.

"Alright big guy, we switched roles and I'm not the best at comforting people. You huh...should sleep! Yeah, sleep sounds awesome!"

"Akane."

"I'll take your bed." She managed to put him under the sheets without him protesting. He sat up against the pillow and grabbed her arm.

"Don't, it's your bed." She bit her bottom lip and looked at him, how hollow and broken he looked.

"But you..." She found herself under the covers, between Itachi's legs and him hugging her, his forehead on her shoulder as her back was against him. "What am I, the Sunday whore?"

"It's not like that," Itachi mumbled weakly.

"I know, it's just..." He leaned back.

"You're right, I'll go," he said quietly but she kept him from moving.

"Don't, you don't want to be alone, do you?" No response. "Then we'll keep that between us, like that entire night. Okay?" After a couple of silent seconds, he nodded and went back to his original position. "Good night."

"...night..."

It was a lot to take in. Too much actually. He already felt terrible for spying on his clan, learning what could have happened made that so much worse.

He didn't want to deal with it alone.

* * *

When I woke up, I was alone in my bed, no traces of Itachi having slept here anymore. I wondered how embarrassed he was of having showed himself so vulnerable last night, but a part of me was happy.

It meant he still trusted me a little bit, right?

I sat up and stretched out my arms, wincing at the pain in my neck. Right, my sleeping position had not exactly been the best.

I got up and changed my clothes quickly for pajamas just to pretend I had not slept in yesterday's clothes, and left for the kitchen. I stopped at the door, staring at Haku talking to Itachi. It wasn't these two that surprised me, or Naoto's absence because he was probably at the Daimyo's, but Utakata-senpai's presence here, calmly sipping on his fuming cup of tea.

"Morning eyesore," he greeted me. I narrowed my eyes, ignoring Haku and Itachi looking at me.

" _You_ ," I growled, making him raise a brow. "You should have told me!"

"Oh, Akiko-san told you everything before she left I presume?" I nodded curtly. "The Yondaime banned everyone from saying anything."

"So what!? I still deserved to know! You were Fubuki's best friend and you didn't tell me!"

"I didn't tell you I almost dropped you on the head when you were six months either, but you don't seem to care about that." I gaped at him.

"Senpai!" I yelled in shock. "I was a delight!" He scoffed.

"Who told you that?"

"My godfather! No, wait...he was just happily ignoring my flaws, Kakashi always said I was a demon. You're right."

"Almost nineteen years but you finally admitted it."

"You love me now?" He stared at me and my cheeky grin, just to turn his head away from me. "Come on senpa..." I was stopped by Haku throwing a toast in my mouth.

"You were being too shameless, stop reading these books." I took a big bite of the toast and pointed the rest toward Haku.

"Over my dead body!" I made a movement too brutal and rubbed my neck.

"You have an aching neck too Uzu-nee?"

"'too'?"

"Itachi-san." I spared him a look and nodded to myself. That was why his head leaning forward.

"It will be fine soon," he sighed in his cup of tea.

"It better, I'm not giving you back to your parents with a stiff neck, Mikoto-san will end me on sight." He glared at me and I shot him a nervous smile. "Yeah, I was treating you like a kid just now, sorry."

"Uzu-nee, look at that," Haku told me, pointing at a paper on the table. I raised a brow and walked to it. "I found it while I was looking into some of the Yuki clan's belongings. It's a family tree."

"There was that much people?" I wondered out loud. "Oh, I'm unnamed baby! And we have an ancestor in common five generations before us? Wow. It was before the foundation of the village. Thinking about it, senpai, you're related to a Kage?"

"The Third." I widened my eyes in shock. He was unfazed. "I thought it was obvious."

"Well...I mean...I didn't think you would just say it like that."

"Well, I did. By the way, I'll go with you to Konoha."

Huh...okay?

"I'll check the apartments," Haku informed me.

"Three bedrooms?"

"Yes." I smiled at him and made myself a tea.

Things were calming down.

It felt good.

After a day where Itachi mostly isolated himself, he came to my room and thanked me. I smiled happily at him, and the next day we were off to Konoha.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to NguyetMieu and kankananime123 for the reviews! And Zabuza really ends up dying all the time? I've never noticed that x)**

 **Bye!**


	58. Rehabilitation Arc: Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 13**

 **Shisui: 22**

 **Kakashi: 27**

* * *

"So that's Konoha?" senpai wondered next to me.

"Wait to see how it is inside." I looked above my shoulder. "Itachi?"

"I'm fine," he replied tiredly, a few meters behind us. Even if he was healed and didn't need a crutch anymore, on this trip he still had been slower than I was used to. He refused to make more breaks, which was what old Itachi would do in his condition. It was still new to him, the more we were getting close to Konoha must have made him realize what was waiting for him and he was not really looking forward to it.

Still, we were just meters away from the gates. I could spot people speaking, probably a team leaving on a mission. We both stopped and waited for Itachi to walk in front of us, to show we were not coming without a good reason. His forehead protectors and usual Uchiha look could not be overlooked at. It was strange to see him wearing his headband by the way, he had not touched it once during his stay in Kiri.

We gave our papers to the guards and after a few minutes of talking about administrative stuff, they let us go.

"We need to notify the Hokage of our presence," senpai told me. I nodded and turned to Itachi.

"I believe you still remember the way to your place?" He seemed genuinely surprised for a second and quickly covered it by his usual blankness.

"I thought you were coming with me." It was my turn to be surprised. I looked back and forth between the two men for a minute.

"I can handle it on my own Akane," senpai informed me in his ever smooth and calm voice. "We see the building from there."

"Yeah, but still." I made a clone. "I'd feel better that way." My clone gave me a thumbs-up and left with senpai. "Did I give myself a thumbs-up?" I caught up with Itachi, who had started to leave when I made a clone. "Please wait for me my fair maiden!" That made him stop and deadpan at me.

"Really?" Did I finally reach the peak of his indifference? I stroke his ponytail between two of my fingers, lifting it up to let it fall graciously in his back.

"What can I say, I'm jealous of your hair like I'm jealous of Haku's. One day I might just put you in a pink yukata to see who wears it better."

"He's a good kid, don't traumatize him." I smiled softly.

"He is, isn't he? I was kinda worried I wouldn't be able to teach him anything, he's a genius and makes me think of you often. I'm glad he left his suicidal tendencies behind him."

"Shisui told me the same thing once."

"What?"

"He was scared he wouldn't be able to teach me anything because of my skills." I hummed in understanding as we were getting closer to the Uchiha compound.

"I see." I took a lock of my hair between my fingers. It was dry. "Maybe I'll let my hair grow back, I won't be as overworked as before now."

"You should," he approved and I raised a brow. He cared about my hair now? "It's not it doesn't suit you, but long hair looks better on you I think."

"Oh, thanks. And it's not as if I couldn't fight with long hair. Sensei does it, Aunty Kushina did it, heck Haku and you do it."

"Can we stop talking about my hair?" I snorted. "Should I just cut it of..."

"No!" I interrupted him as I could see the Uchiha fan above the gates of the compound. Itachi smirked, still looking ahead of him. "Don't do that to your fans! You...heartless...man!"

"You're running out of insults? That's new." I turned my head away, refusing to look at him. People were looking at us and greeting Itachi back. I had never really paid attention to how he was treated here but...they all liked him.

It was a good sight.

We exited the commercial street of the compound to take a less used one, leading to Itachi's house. By now, Itachi was walking faster, but I didn't follow with his speed. I stopped completely and leaned my back against the wall when he was inside and I heard Mikoto-san's voice, and Shisui's, and then more and more.

I smiled fondly and debated on whether or not I should stay to say 'hi'. When I heard a girl's voice, probably Izumi, I decided to leave quietly. I wasn't a big fan of the Uchiha compound, I always felt uncomfortable around here.

Plus, I stuck by Itachi when he was in Kiri because he needed someone.

He was home now. He had his family, his friends, his girlfriend, his comrades to care for him. He didn't need me.

I still had a decision to take though, concerning our friendship. We talked things through and we were on good terms but…

Deep down, my reaction toward Obito's offer still haunted me. I wrote about it in my rapport to sensei and would talk about it to Tsunade-san, but that was it. I just…

I kind of was doubting my own beliefs and it scared me.

If, one day I, because of some reasons, was changing sides, I didn't want anyone to feel guilty about putting me out of my misery. I knew...Itachi would, could be the man of the situation if it came to it.

He was fine now, I didn't want...him to care too much about me.

Once I was out of the compound, I heard a voice calling me. I turned around to see Shisui running toward me.

"Hey," I greeted him casually. He stopped in front of me and flashed me a huge grin, taking me in his arms and lifting me from the ground. I screamed in surprise and hugged him back for stability.

"You're fine now!" he cried out, delighted by the fact I was out of the hospital. I started to tap his arm multiple times. I couldn't get oxygen anymore.

"I won't be for long Shisui..." He looked at me with wonder and put me back on the ground in panic. I took a deep breath, my face probably going back to its original color.

"Sorry, but when Itachi called you but nobody saw you I left in a hurry to catch up with you. Why did you leave without saying 'hi I'm alive too'?"

"I didn't want to intrude." He smacked me weakly on the head.

"You wouldn't have idiot."

"You're all with your family, I would have," I countered, rubbing the sore spot. I had a flash in my mind of senpai being home. "And I should go back to mine, senpai is with us. Sensei made me take a sabbatical leave of at least a month and it was last month, I'll be around for a little while so see you."

"Sure but..." He sighed as I turned my heels, ready to go. "Be sure to come back, Mikoto-san _will_ thank you."

"For what?" He raised a brow, looking at me funny.

"Her sons?"

"I followed orders," I replied with a shrug. I waved at him from above my shoulder, leaving for good.

What was not my surprise to be met with a letter from my cousin but not my actual cousin when I got home.

"He left with Jiraya-san already!?"

"When we came back and told him Itachi and you were awake and out of danger, he told Jiraya-san he could leave with an easy mind." I pouted slightly, reading his messy handwriting telling me he would come back much stronger. Mom turned to senpai, who was staring intensively at Fubuki's picture. "You don't mind taking Naruto's bed while you're both here?"

"No."

"How long are you here by the way?" Mom asked me, her smile not leaving her lips. I shrugged.

"I don't know, I'm on a sabbatical leave on sensei's orders and she told me I would take a break in Konoha too. Maybe a month maximum but I don't want to leave Haku on his own for too long, we're in the middle of moving."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, my old place was half destroyed, there is no kitchen anymore and my bedroom is missing a wall and a chunk of the floor so...we need bigger anyway. I don't know where Karin will live yet, she has been staying with Dai and Suigetsu at his place, but she made it clear she was sick of the two."

"So you'll stop avoiding Suigetsu then?" senpai asked, looking at us with harsh eyes. "You'll stop hiding behind Itachi's back?" I glared at him.

"I'm not talking about it."

* * *

I opened my eyes and sat up in my bed. I was still sleepy and the sun wasn't even out yet or I would see it through the curtains. My room had not changed in the past years, and it felt good and nostalgic to be back here.

Still, someone was knocking at my window. I turned the light on and read six past seven on my alarm clock. With an angry grumble, I opened my curtains.

It was Sasuke.

It was Sasuke, knocking at my window. I opened it with a sigh.

"Someone better has died during the night." He raised a brow and shook his head. "I'm giving you five seconds before I push you brat."

"Train me," he demanded in all seriousness. I stared at him with a poker face and without a word, closed the curtains, my window, turned the light off and went back to sleep, muffled in my warm quilt.

Not now.

Two hours later, I woke up and put on my blue robe and went to the kitchen. A sleepy smile found its way on my lips when I smelled breakfast.

The sleepy smile disappeared when I spotted the Uchiha fan on someone's back and I smacked him on the head.

"Your dad is a cop, you do know harassment is a crime, don't you?" I said 'hi' to Mom and senpai and sat next to Sasuke, who was eating as if he had not eaten at his place. "Didn't you have breakfast?"

"I came here early this morning, what do you think?" Sasuke gave tit for tat, his miso soup in his hand.

"You left a note to your mother I hope?" Mom asked him sternly, giving him a pointed look. He nodded quickly. Mom smiled sweetly at him. "Good, we don't want Mikoto's hair to turn white from all the stress she's had for the past few months, do we?"

"No we don't," Sasuke answered with me in sync. Their eyes turned to me, even senpai who was quietly eating.

"What, I don't want to upset her!"

"What are you going to do today?"

"I have to see the Hokage, and Kakashi. Senpai..."

"Don't worry for me, I'll find something to do."

"Sleeping somewhere?" He shrugged. I looked at Sasuke when I felt him staring. "What?"

"Train me."

"Nope. Ask Itachi or Shisui, or Kakashi. Mom, do you think you'd check the seal on my eye? I want to know what it does exactly."

"Sure, we'll do that at the hospital."

I wasn't surprised Sasuke followed me to the Hokage's office, asking me to train him. I was surprised to see Kakashi leaving her office though.

"Hey," he greeted me with surprise. "I didn't know you were there."

"I arrived yesterday afternoon with senpai and Itachi. Is Tsunade-san..."

"At the hospital."

"She's seeing nii-san." I spun around, dumbfounded.

"You knew!? Why didn't you tell me!?"

"Train me." I growled and rolled my eyes. Grabbing Kakashi by the hand, I left for the hospital, Sasuke still jogging behind us to keep up.

Even if I had wanted to train him, I wouldn't stay in Konoha long enough for him to get anything from it. And I didn't want to train anyone period, I wanted to sleep all day! If it wasn't for sensei and the delicate case she entrusted me give to Tsunade-san, I would still be in bed, or in the couch. When we arrived at the hospital, Sakura walked right past us. Her lovely sensei stopped her on her way.

"Kakashi-sensei? Oh, Sasuke-kun, and Akane-san you're better!" I grinned at her.

"Yup. Tsunade-san is available?"

"She is examining Itachi-san for now and will proceed to a lot of tests, she won't be available until noon I'm afraid." I threw my head back with an exasperated groan. Seriously…

"You have time to train me then." I shot Sasuke a glare and, saying 'goodbye' to Sakura, left, Kakashi's hand still in mine. Sasuke followed, as expected.

"You want her to train you? I could, I'm your sensei," Kakashi reminded him, pointing at himself with his finger.

"I want her to train me." The jounin lowered his head to sulk.

"My feelings Sasuke."

We went to the Training Ground Three and I sat on one of the wooden pillar. I made a clone.

"I don't want a clone!" Sasuke hissed at me in annoyance.

"That's all you're getting, I have to talk to Kakashi and you can't hear it."

"What's so important?"

"It's private Sasuke, now follow my clone!" He clicked his tongue, and with one last annoyed glare, he ran after her.

"What could require my input?" I jumped down and searched through my pouch and take a scroll out of it. I opened it and unsealed the first item, a metallic gray box. I handed it to him. "What is it?"

"Take a look Kakashi," I whispered quietly. His eye became serious and he took the box, opening it immediately. He widened his eye in shock and his hands started shaking. "As the alliance should be officiated soon, sensei wanted to officially apologized for what Kiri tried to do with Rin, which led to her death. Sensei told me to give the personal effects we have collected to her family, but I don't know them so I thought I would give them to you."

"Her parents passed away during the Kyuubi attack. That's..."

"Normal, we shouldn't have kept it for so long to begin with." I bowed to him. "I know I have the official apology on me, but I deeply apologized for what my village did Kakashi. The Sandaime became illogical in his decision making at the beginning of the war."

There was a heavy silence for at least five minutes, where I didn't straightened up. Then, Kakashi sighed and made me stand up straight. When he hugged me with one arm, I was shocked but hugged him back.

"Thank you," he thanked me in a muffled whisper. I sighed in relief, my heart slowly finding his regular rhythm back. I tried to say something, but patted him on the back.

"That's disgusting, you made me leave to flirt with an old man?" a snarky voice asked next to us. I rolled my eyes and Kakashi let go of me.

"That aspect of my life concerns only me."

"But it's not like that," Kakashi continued, putting the box away. "I don't want to lose." Sasuke widened his eyes in shock and I looked at them with confusion.

"Lose what?"

"Well, when we came back..."

"Hey, they're not supposed to know!" Sasuke yelled at him. 'they'? Now I had a bad feeling.

"We bet on your love life." I choked on my own spit. "Naruto and I bet on Shisui-kun, Sasuke and Sakura both bet on Itachi."

"Wh..." Sasuke launched himself at his sensei. "Since when Itachi and I are a shipping?" Please don't let the old Temari shipping me with old Kou situation happen again.

"Forever," Sasuke told me, tackled to the ground by Kakashi.

"But, by the lack of reaction on Shisui-kun, I'm guessing Naruto and I will get money." I blushed out of sudden. They started to bicker, Sasuke claiming that Itachi and I were 'meant to be together and it was obvious'.

"You win if there is an official relationship, right?" They stopped and looked at me. After a nod, I smirked. "May I enter the bet then?"

"Wha..." Sasuke started but I raised my hand to stop him.

"I bet on none of them! Boom, I don't get in a relationship with any of them!"

"That's not the rule!" Sasuke refused sharply. I scratched my cheek with a smirk.

"Well...I don't care. I have the power to make all of you lose and I'm getting money out of it." Kakashi looked at me as if to tell me being greedy wasn't a good thing, and I stuck my tongue at him. "Why didn't you bet on your sensei's love life by the way? He's closer to the age of 'settling down' no?"

"We can't bet on something non-existent." I almost saw an imaginary rock fall on Kakashi as he let go of Sasuke, who got up immediately.

"And I was planning on paying ramen to the three of us, now I'm reconsidering it." We both looked at him, exchanged a knowing look, and attacked him as one man.

At some point, Sasuke and Kakashi left me out of their spar, so I laid down in the grass and looked at the blooming trees and the sun in the sky. In a few years, it would be shit again with the Akatsuki, but for now...for now I would enjoy the relative peace and quiet I missed since I went back to Kiri.

And, to be honest, the ramen was as delicious as I remembered them to be. Kakashi paying for us made them even better.

* * *

"An official apology concerning Nohara Rin," Tsunade-san repeated quietly, reading the letter sensei gave me.

"There is also a file that concerns her physiology, they must have tested her before sealing the Sanbi inside of her," I added, sliding a thin file on her desk. I added Yagura's journal and two files sensei managed to give me after negotiating with the Elders for a while. "This is the report we have concerning the aftermath where the entire platoon was decimated and where only Kakashi was found alive. Konoha took him and Rin's body before Kiri arrived on the scene, but we performed an autopsy on each of the bodies, you'll understand the result with no problem. The other file is...not that interesting in term of what it's saying. It's more what it implies."

"What it implies you say?" Tsunade-san said with a quirked brow. Her eyes scanned the file quickly and she frowned quietly. "I see, that Akira..."

"...was on the right track to control the Sanbi that was sealed inside of him. Our bijuu have always had a jinchuriki. With the state of Kiri at the time, and no village would do that anyway, it was an illogical decision to trade a perfect 'weapon' if I may put it like that, for a human time bomb they were not even sure would reach its target. I mean...the official goal is just plain stupid, but the Elders of Kiri have kept that hidden from everyone."

"I see, this would prove that Rin was just a way to reach someone else, here that guy." I nodded as I took a deep breath.

"Yeah. And...Yagura's diary, you should read it. Especially these last few years, when I left Konoha. The link between my seal and a jinchuriki's seal weakened the genjutsu and this was proof to us he was being controlled. It was proof he...was fighting it too," I finished in a quieter voice. She read the pages in utter silence. "I can't leave you the originals but sensei told me you could make copies. Especially the diary...it has an emotional value to us."

"Of course, I understand. That Kiri is sharing this is already a lot."

"We want justice Tsunade-san, just like you want it for Minato's and Kushina's death."

"I'll do the copies myself then, and bring Kakashi later on to ask him about the mission. Was there anything else?"

"Yeah, what's that joke you pulled?" I asked her, showing her the crumpled paper. "Right after the sealing too?" Tsunade-san leaned her cheek in her hand with an annoyed look on her face.

"I know how it looks, but these old geezers that are the Advisers thought it would be a strategic moment to offer you this." I snorted and crossed my arms over my chest.

"They didn't want me in Konoha when I was living in it and now I'm valuable they want me under their orders. As if I would become their dog." She sighed.

"I don't agree with their method either. It's a 'no' then?" I nodded.

"If, for some very very important reasons I were to be transferred here, it would be my decision only and done by the rules as a real transfer, and not by pretending my past in Kiri did not happen like it would appear on my file. I'm sorry."

"Don't, Jiraya told me beforehand you turned down Sarutobi-sensei too. Before you leave, I'm warning you. Fugaku will probably asks for your services, and so will I, for Itachi's case." I raised my brows.

"What for?"

"I'll let him tell you. You can leave now."

I did without further ado. I went to buy some flowers and greeted Inoichi-san, and went to the cemetery and Memorial Stone. I stopped a little bit longer on Rin's grave.

I would discover what exactly happened, how Madara did it.

After I left the cemetery, the sun was barely starting to set. Craving something sweet, I bought myself a taiyaki, savoring the taste of the red bean paste on my tongue. The small things could really make your day.

"Akane-san!" I stopped among the civilians minding their own business in a busy street and turned my head with wonder. I blinked multiple times at the brown haired-girl coming my way. She had a beauty mark under her right eye, which was the same dark brown than the other one.

Well yes dummy, except for you and Kakashi, people usually have the same color in both eyes. It wasn't that common to have different-colored eyes.

"Yes...oh, I know, you're Izumi!" I congratulated myself in my head when she nodded. "What can I do for you?" She seemed taken back by my friendliness and I bit in my treat. It was so good! You bet Itachi would develop a sweet tooth, Konoha's sugary treats were the best.

"Can we talk? In private?" I tilted my head on the side, my auburn lock falling in my left eye.

"Hum...sure? I mea..." She grabbed my wrist and dragged me behind her. I kept bandaging my left arm from the tip of my fingers to my shoulder, but my sleeve was covering it.

So we found ourselves sitting on one of the many benches leading to the gates of the village. I finished my food, made a ball with the paper and threw it in the trash can. I sighed in defeat when in landed next to it and got up to throw it away.

"So...it's uncomfortable to just sit here in silence when we don't know each other. What do you want?" She raised her head in the blink of an eye as if she just remembered something very important. She took a deep breath and turned her eyes to me, determination burning in them.

"I...I've been in love with Itachi-kun ever since we were children Akane-san," she started and I fought the urge to sweat drop. The hell…? "I really do and I thank you not leaving him alone in Kiri but...but he...he went after you and..."

"Huh...Izumi, if you're worried about me, please don't, I don't see Itachi that way. And anyway, he used to ask me advice about girls when we were fifteen for you so..." She flushed at that.

"He...he did?"

"He's not the best at human interactions," I reminded her flatly. "In case you haven't noticed yet."

"I know that! I know it all too well but...I just...I want to understand what's going on in his head, I want him to let me do it like he let you and Shisui-san do it." She was feeling excluded then. How...familiar.

"Itachi's the kind of guy to be concerned about everything, I'm sure he's aware some of it is futile but he still does and doesn't want to bother you with it. You've been in a relationship for what, almost four years now? Just try to talk to him, he won't..."

"Relationship?" she repeated, stunned eyes staring at me. I raised a brow.

"Well yeah, Itachi and you." She parted her lips to say something the voice of the subject of our conversation interrupted us. He was alone, walking over to us with his hands in his pockets and staring at us in surprise, in particular in Izumi. Gosh, I didn't want to be included in a lovers spat, especially Itachi's. "Yo."

"You could have said 'hello' yesterday, or just that you were leaving," he reprimanded me and I grinned nervously.

"There was enough people already, I didn't want to intrude on your family reunion." His gaze clearly made me understand he was still upset about it. I stood up. "Sorry, I'll come by soon, apparently your dad has work for me. Bye guys!" I quickly left them together.

Phewwwwww!

It was getting cringy!

"Senpai I need a hug!" I whined when I got home. He wasn't there, nor was Mom. Shisui was, however, and flashed me a toothy grin as he opened his arms wide open. I stared at him for a second and shrugged, accepting. "Good enough compensation I guess." I smiled in his shoulder as he closed his arms around me.

"I wanted to see you but Utakata and Akiko-san were leaving for the cemetery, she told me I could wait," he explained to me and I could just picture the grin stuck on his face.

"Can we just hang out like before? I just left Izumi and Itachi alone and it was the absolute cringe." He pulled me back, surprise on his face.

"Izumi and Itachi?" I nodded.

"I found that weird too when she wanted to talk to me, and then Itachi arrived so I fled for my life." I went in the kitchen and pushed him toward the couch.

"What did she tell you?"

"Honestly, I'm not really sure where she was getting at," I answered as I started to make tea. "She feels excluded by Itachi unlike you and I, that I understood." He didn't say anything and turned the TV on. I went back with tea and things to eat. "Weird."

"Yeah...weird is the word..." he mumbled. "So, what's up?"

"I was fired from the ANBU and sensei placed me on a sabbatical leave."

"That's for the best."

"Agree."

We just hung out, and it felt good. It had been years since we had been able to do that and I had missed it terribly.

* * *

The day had started well. I woke up at nine on top form, took a bath and pampered myself. I brunched alone, Mom working and senpai doing his own thing. I was about to work on some fuinjutsu, something I had not done for a while now, when someone rang the bell.

What was not my surprise to find myself in front of Mikoto-san.

"Great, I finally get a hold on you Akane-chan! You're ready to head out too, come with me."

"What bu..." She almost put my shoes on my feet for me and her arm was crossed with mine, my feet taking me away from the comfort of home. "Mikoto-san?" She hummed happily and I admitted my defeat.

"You'll help me with the groceries." I sweat dropped. What in the what? Grocery shopping? How...how did that have anything to do with me!?

Let me tell you, grocery shopping with a housewife and mother of two boys who put her in a lot of stress was tiring. Even if what she bought was mouthwatering, I failed to see how it had anything to do with me.

In the end, I walked with her to her home and helped her put the groceries away.

"Huh...Mikoto-san?" She hummed, showing she was listening. "Why...did you make me go grocery shopping with you?"

"Oh, well you see," she started happily, "Itachi came back and when he said that you were with him, I was happy, because I was worried for you too since the Chuunin Exams and thought I could thank you for Sasuke and then Itachi. But...what a surprise, you left without saying anything to us!" She cut violently a slice of the chocolate cake she bought and I winced in fear. She was friends with Aunty Kushina, there _was_ a reason. She turned away and placed a tray with two cup of tea and two slices of cake on the table I was sitting at. She sat in front of me and gave me a cup of tea with a sigh. "Really, with all you've done for Sasuke, thinking you would have been intruding is silly." I smiled apologetically at her.

"Sorry then, I should have said 'hi' before leaving. But I haven't done that much for Sasuke you know, I wasn't there that much at the Resistance." Mikoto-san smiled, looking at her tea.

"Still, he came back changed and apologized for worrying me. He's grown and more mature toward the shinobi world."

"I'm glad I could help then, Uchiha children aren't that easy to raise." She looked at me in wonder. "I mean, I've babysat Sasuke enough to know that raising him and Itachi was probably hard."

"It was indeed," she agreed, a calculating look in her eyes. "I also wanted to thank you for supporting Itachi in Kiri, he won't admit it but such news takes a toll even on the best of us, and knowing he had a friend with him reassured me." I lowered my gaze as I used my fork to cut a piece of my cake. "If you think you're the reason he is sick and will have to go through such a long treatment, you're wrong. Long ago, you ended up in the hospital for protecting Sasuke and Naruto. In a way, I'm sure it was his way to pay you back for this, and that in no way he holds you responsible for his health."

"I guess so...he said the same."

"Of course. However...it must have been hard on you to learn about his sickness."

"Yeah...my brother..."

"I don't mean your brother." I raised a brow. "I'm married to Fugaku, he tells me what's important concerning our children. Them killing each other is important." I widened my eyes in shock.

"You...you know about..."

"Your condition? Yes, I don't care that much though as I can see my boys grow up together. Fugaku only knows what would have happened to the clan and our children, but I am a mother, I see more than him regarding the reason. You've always cared a lot for Sasuke, it's because you must have cared a lot about the one you knew." My throat was dry but I knew the tea wouldn't do anything about it. I nodded. "And if you were close to him, it's because you were close to Itachi?" I nodded once again. "Extremely close?"

"It was in another life Mikoto-san, it hardly matters anymore," I managed to whisper in a hoarse voice. Her eyes grew soft at the blatant and raw emotion in my voice.

"It does, the reason why you were avoiding him when you moved here is a lot more understandable. It frustrated him a lot you know, not knowing why you were acting so cold to him." I bit the inside of my cheek. Why was she reminding me that? Was there a hidden message? 'Don't hurt my son ever again?' "Tell me Akane, I know you've lived in a timeline where Itachi died young but...did he really leave you alone?" I froze under her knowing look. "I knew it. Don't worry, it will stay between you and I." I bit my bottom lip and my hands clenched my cup hard.

"Since when..." No, it didn't matter. It didn't matter at all. "I miss them."

"Twins?" I nodded sadly.

"He...he never knew, I discovered the pregnancy the same day that his death. It...my water broke the first time I saw his brother and...I miss them, I miss everything I had built once I was able to look into the future. I miss all of them. Now it's...sometimes, it still feels surreal to see you or Fugaku-san breathing and talking, you're people I never thought I would know one day. It's nice to see people still alive and with a future ahead of them, but..." Pictures of Shisui and Itachi, each on their wedding days, flashed in my mind. I couldn't help but picture the first one crying tears of blood and the other dying in front of his brother as a pariah a second after. "It's hard too. On some days it's harder than others."

"Akane, can I ask you how old you are?"

"I'm...almost forty-three." Her features morphed into surprise.

"You're older than me, I'm not forty-one yet."

"I tend to forget how old I am supposed to be mentally or physically. It doesn't really seem relevant anymore."

"It's understandable. Tell me...would you talk about them? I'm...curious." I blinked and furrowed my brows. Mom told me it could do me some good, and mothers always know better.

"I...I guess I could. Maybe I should."

I did, in a trembling voice and with a painful lump in my voice, but I did.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to NguyetMieu and kankananime123 for the reviews! And well, I've mentioned before Itachi had the bad habit of stalking Akane when they were five because he was curious about her.**

 **Bye!**


	59. Rehabilitation Arc: Final

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 18**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 13**

 **Shisui: 22**

 **Kakashi: 27**

* * *

After talking with Mikoto-san, I talked with Fugaku-san in his office, and was basically forced to stay for dinner. Itachi and Sasuke...asked me how I got myself in this situation and I replied the situation got to me in the form of their dear mother.

The knowing look they exchanged and the pity in their eyes when they looked at me made me want to cry in a corner. Especially when I told them I was at their place since around noon or one in the afternoon. I told them that at seven, when they got home.

There was a lot of pity in their eyes.

This was four days ago. Currently, I was in the hospital, in a room in the basement where there were cupboards only on the side, against the wall. I had asked for Kou's help to Hiashi-san, who saw in this a good opportunity to be owed a debt by Fugaku-san.

Anyway, Kou's help meant I needed to make preparations on the floor beforehand because it was actually complicated.

"So...you and Hyuuga examining Itachi yesterday was really that important?" Shisui asked me as I was still painting the symbols on the floor in a cross shape. He was leaning on the wall, next to Itachi, Sasuke on his other side.

"Yes."

"What will you do?"

"None of your business Sasuke," I told him and he glowered at me. I got up and stepped away from my work. "My help falls under medical secrecy. Now, everybody but Itachi, out!" They left and Itachi stepped closer. "Now, strip for me." He stared at me without batting an eye. "Okay, I was joking. But seriously, I need you to remove your shirt because I need to apply the seal on the problematic area."

"Okay," he told me and took his shirt off. He put it on the handle of a cupboard and walked up to me, sitting in the center.

"Lay down." He did and I placed my tools next to him. "Alright, before I start I will explain. The virus you have is in your chakra system. As you have the Sharingan since you were eight, your chakra system wasn't fully done yet and it is slightly different than Kakashi for instance, or me who have my Ice Release since I was eleven. It's more fragile in a way, because there's more pressure put on it. I know what I am talking about, Tsunade-san has been helping me with the medical aspect of the things. Anyway, because of the fragility of your chakra system and the poison, the virus managed to touch you. It will grow and grow, giving you crisis like the one you've experimented. There is medicine to ease the pain and symptoms, but unfortunately, you have to go through the pain because at some point, the virus will attach to your heart and only then Tsunade-san will be able to remove it. After that, it will be a long period of rehabilitation for you, for your chakra system and body in general to heal, add to that the medication you'll have to make sure you're perfectly clean." I was out of breath but Itachi's face was still this mask of blankness.

"How are you going to help?" he asked me quietly after a few seconds of dead silence.

"Well, you're still one of the best shinobi in the village, you being sick is annoying. That's why Fugaku-san and Tsunade-san asked me to fasten the progression of the disease so that you can have the surgery as soon as possible. It's also why I've brought Kou with me yesterday. Basically...I will place a seal on you that will increase the chakra flow in your tenkentsu."

"Kou-san was here to guide you," he figured out.

"Yeah, we worked out a way for that. This part will hurt, I ain't gonna lie. Then, the seal I'll draw on you is, once the virus is removable, to block your chakra." This made him look at me in concern. "Don't give me that look, you'll be off sick, if you use your chakra before Tsunade-san tells you to, you can screw your entire future. You won't have access to enough chakra to fight and I'll seal your sharingan too. The only person able to remove the seal or weaken it little by little will be Tsunade-san, she'll be the one to say when you'll be back on duty. You knew you wouldn't be able to wave it off just like that."

"I know," he told me with irritation toward the situation, "I was hoping the three-year sick leave the Hokage mentioned would be shorter." Three years? Wow, the Sandaime really managed to pull it off with his chemical weapon.

"Hopefully, you'll be exploited in the next few months and with the seal, within a year maximum you should be on the operating table. Then...reeducation. Now I've explained everything, please don't get a boner because of my actions during the rest of the sealing." He looked completely confused, but it disappeared when I sat on his waist, straddling him.

"It looks like you're taking advantage of the situation though Akane." I blushed and bit my tongue to keep my snarky reply to myself.

"It's easier if I have the subject..." I showed his chest in front of me. "Like that, if I'm on the side there could be some irregularities and it will fuck everything up." I took a hairband from my pockets and tied my hair back in a low messy bun. I grabbed my brush and soaked it in the ink. I let it for a second too long and took a too shaky breath, because Itachi poked my thigh. I looked down at him, who was smiling and trying to encourage me.

"You're incredible at what you do, aren't you?" I nodded without an ounce of modesty. I was, but during the making of the seal I kept asking oji-chan everything, even beginner's questions because I could not mess up. "I trust you for that."

"Yeah...yeah sure," I mumbled with a gulp. "It's just...medical seal of such a caliber, and on someone I know personally...it's always scary. Just so you know, I will move quite a lot so _really_ don't get a boner."

"Why the fixation of that?" I raised a brow.

"You're eighteen and a guy, I'm a girl and will move back-and-forth on a certain part of your body, sorry to give myself some credit." I smirked at him blushing at the description I was giving. My pride wouldn't take it very well if this Itachi didn't find me at least a little bit attractive.

"I get it, get to work," he muttered with his eyes closed, embarrassment written all over his face. I wiped the excess of ink of the edges of the cup I had poured it in.

I put my hand on his abdomen to support myself, ignoring how his abs were contracted in anticipation, leaned toward his chest and put my brush near his heart.

Then, in silence, I started to draw the seal. Only our breathing could be heard in the room, and the faint sound of my brush on his bare skin. Only then did I realize how...sensual the situation we were in truly was. My strokes were swift and precise, but when I had to bring the lines down to his abdomen, I needed to move back too, basically ending on the top of his thighs. When I leaned too much when I had to draw smaller symbols, I was breathing directly on his skin and his shivers didn't escape me. I played dense instead, because in my head there were many memories of me straddling old Itachi for an entirely different reason.

Fucking end of teenage years body, have some decency toward sick people.

When I was done I got up as fast as I could and went to the desk I put my stuff on when I arrived. My heart was racing and I was calming my breathing down. I had to. I gulped the air one last time, grabbed a thick piece of fabric I folded many times on itself to make it as thick as possible and went back to Itachi.

"Sorry, bear with me for a little bit longer," I apologized as I went back on him. I handed him the fabric. "It will be painful, bite in that. I'll ask you to grab my legs or something too to keep you from moving too much." Without a word, he bit into the fabric and his hands clenched firmly behind my knees, his thumbs above them. "Don't worry about hurting me, even if it will probably be the least of your worries." His eyes fluttered and he started to take deeper breath. As soon as he saw me doing the first hand seals, he closed his eyes shut.

The first symbol on the floor started to slid on his body and his nails dug immediately in the back of my knees. He arched his back, raising it a few centimeters from the floor and his scream was muffled by the fabric, a vein bulging on his neck and sweat covering his skin. I felt a shiver ran down my back at the sight of Itachi, powerful, always strong Itachi, always indifferent Itachi, screaming in pain because of me.

The symbols were three-quarter in when he opened his eyes the widest I had ever seen him, his blood vessels reaching his now very small irises. He started moving his legs behind me as I was done with the first seal. I didn't waste a second and activated the other one, now fuin symbols forming a circle consisting of bars crossing each other at the middle on his stomach.

I took advantage of the situation to seal the Sharingan too, and slid on the floor. Itachi was slowly calming down, but he was still biting on the fabric. I wrapped my hand around it, the other hand on his chin, and made him open his mouth. Once the fabric out, I called him gently. He blinked frantically and, slowly, turned his head toward me. I smiled at him and patted his biceps weakly.

"Hey, it's over now. Sorry for the pain, but...but you'll get better now, I promise." He started to sit up but I stopped him when he grimaced in pain. "Stay down, I'll get your shirt for you." In the blink of an eye, I ran, got his shirt, and was back on my knees next to him. His eyes were cloudy and seemed to be taking in his surroundings. "I...Itachi?" He turned his head to me and I never saw the resemblance with Sasuke more than now. Why? I had seen Sasuke completely lost, but Itachi? I mean, when I told him about me he was more shocked than lost, but now...After a few seconds, there was recognition in his eyes.

"If..." he rasped quietly. He cleared his throat. "If I ever had a boner, I assure you it's gone now."

"Heh?" Did...did he just make a joke?

Well, if his dry sense of humor was still here, he was fine. Shaken up, but fine. So, as a stress-relieving, I chuckled and sat on my bottom and crossed my legs, my hands on my ankles.

"Fuck, I was scared for you and you say that after being in so much pain I thought I was torturing you? That's amazing!" He smirked. "Wipe that smirk away from your face or I'll do it!"

"I'm sick," he said. We stared at each other and when he chuckled, I admitted defeat.

Itachi was fine.

"Okay, get dressed and then you're going to be checked by Tsunade-san." I started to clean to room and tidy up a little as Itachi was, I had to say with difficulty, putting his shirt back on. I was fully ready to leave and turned to him. His shirt was on, but he wasn't moving. I walked in front of him and stretched out my hand. He took it without hesitation.

His arm ended up on my shoulders as I had to support him to the door.

"Sorry," he apologized quietly. His feet barely left the floor when he was walking.

"That's alright."

"I...I need to give you something." I raised a brow at him. "I need to give it back to you."

"Huh...okay? When did you borrow something from me?" He shook his head.

"It wasn't me and it wasn't exactly 'borrowed'." I opened the door, Shisui, Sasuke, his parents, Tsunade-san and a nurse waiting.

"Someone helps him standing he's heavy!" I roared when nobody moved. Shisui, the closest, was the first to move and took Itachi from me. As they left with him, I was left with the Hokage and Fugaku-san. "Everything went well. I will give the key to the seal within a day or two Tsunade-san." After a few more words, they left too and I found Sasuke, hidden at the corner of the walls of the hallway. "Hey you."

"Nii-san will be sick for a while."

"Yeah, and in rehabilitation. He'll need you."

"I'm not sure I can be there for him." I frowned and crossed my arms.

"Why not?"

"I still want you to train me."

"So? I said 'no' and I leave soon anyway." Sasuke looked at me seriously.

"You don't understand. Sakura is trained by the Hokage, Naruto by Jiraya-sama, I want you to train me for the next couple of years, as your official apprentice, teach me more fuinjutsu." I widened my eyes and pointed at myself.

"Me? You want me to take you as an apprentice?" Okay, I had not seen that coming. How did that even happen? "Sasuke, you do know it's not just my decision, you have to ask above."

"I know, I've been trying. Do you know what an honorary shinobi is?"

"Enlighten me." He gestured me to follow him and we ended up in a tea shop, with _me_ paying. "So? An honorary shinobi?"

"It goes back to when Uzushio was still existing. Because of the close bonds between the two villages, there were exchanges of shinobi, usually of at least a year. For the entirety of their stay, they were fully shinobi of the village they were in, and unless in case of emergency such as a declaration of war, they stayed with no interruptions. They have a jounin referent and are sent on missions based on their skills and not their rank." That...was...interesting. "I'm suffocating here."

"I can imagine, trust me," I muttered. "And Tsunade-san..."

"When I asked her if I could leave, she said 'no' and after insistence, she mentioned this. She asked me to convince her to pick me and not someone else. I would just need a jounin's support, but I can get that from Kakashi."

"You did your homework well," I complimented him. Under his determined gaze, I sighed. "Nobody knows about that yet, right?"

"Hn." He took advantage of his parents' concern over Itachi to do his own thing.

"I guess I'd be the referent jounin." He nodded. "You know, the worst is that I'm sure sensei would accept you after your help. Sasuke, you're my permanent headache by now." He smirked smugly at me and I narrowed my eyes.

"I'll take that as a compliment. So, you'll train me?"

"Let's see if you can convince Tsunade-san first brat. Impress me a little with that brain of yours." From his demeanor, I knew the challenge was accepted.

* * *

"Yo!" I exclaimed, my face above Shisui's. We were in the forest, on a small cliff overlooking a lake. He was napping in the grass, using his hands as a pillow, enjoying the warmth of the sun, but now my face was hiding it. He opened an eye. "Were you sleeping?"

"Isn't that something you should ask before screaming?" he replied casually, shutting his eye up. "It defeats the purpose of the question." I sat down next to him, propped on my elbows. "Itachi is good by the way."

"I'd kill him myself if he wasn't." Shisui yawned and sat too.

"You two made up, that's cool."

"Yeah...yeah, we did...Shisui, he...I kinda told him I knew things?" I swore I thought Shisui's neck would break at the speed he turned his head to me, eyes alert. "He got me in a situation I couldn't lie, so I...I told him someone told me a possible future and I changed it by changing your fate."

"There's no way he'd buy the 'someone told me' excuse."

"He didn't, he chose to let it slide though, because he was getting explanations so..."

"How did he take it?"

"He cried. I mean, not sobbing hysterically, but he cried. About what he could have done." Shisui breathed out through his nose, clear irritation coming from him.

"I knew I shouldn't have left."

"Yeah he...he was a mess..." Silence fell upon us, both of us in their thoughts. I wanted to say more, but Shisui's feelings for me were keeping my mouth shut.

"Akane? There's something else?" I threw my head back with a groan.

"Yes, but I...I can't tell you because...because you have fee..."

"I can pretend they're not here for a minute you know," he reminded me with an amused smirk. "I mean, I love you, sure," I turned my head to hide my blushing cheeks at how casual he sounded, "but first and foremost I'm your friend, and moral support."

"Okay then...there...you know, when I was with old Itachi, it was just the two of us, we were in a bubble that kept us from the outside world in a way. When he was in Kiri, I felt like the same thing was happening and it scared me. I couldn't let it come back. It...I just...I'm trying to find a good way for that friendship to work but I don't see it go well with the reality of things."

"Please don't tell me you want to break up with him," Shisui stopped me curtly. "It's not the good thing to do, trust me, it would do more wrongs than goods."

"Then what? I don't...I'm not Konoha. We care about each other, sure, but ultimately, he has a better sense of what a shinobi is than me, he's...more loyal to his village than me. Ultimately, I'm that friend in Kiri that may turn into an enemy one day and if there is no friendship at all, there won't be any...gosh Shisui, I don't know. I suck at making good decisions regarding people."

"I'm aware, thanks." I smacked him on the shoulder. "But wouldn't that apply to me and Sasuke and you know, all of the people who care a little bit about you in Konoha?"

"Maybe but, it's Itachi's utter loyalty to Konoha that scares me in the end. It...I don't think I'll ever be a priority. It sounds very self-centered, but what I mean is...I don't think that...urgh, I don't think I'd be the first choice he'd make!" Kakashi wouldn't kill me because of the trauma Rin left him and Obito's sentence, Sasuke and Naruto seemed to have it deep in their brain too, especially my cousin, and Shisui was...well, Shisui. But Itachi? Nah, Itachi would...he wouldn't like it, but he'd still kill me if needed.

"Do you keep thinking that because he left you before?" I clenched my fists.

"Maybe, I don't know, I'm mad at the fact I'm not mad. It's just..."

"The system that's rotten, I know. But keeping him away won't work. I think he'll accept it for a while, observe and then confront you at the worst moment for you." Didn't he do that already? "And he'll be angry. You don't want an angry Itachi, trust me. You should try to make sure Kiri and Konoha stay close allies instead, alright? That's what I was thinking about doing anyway."

"Really?" He grinned at me.

"Well yeah! I have a reputation, and if I can use it to keep us from turning into enemies then I will!"

"You're just too much sometimes, you know that?" He laughed and swiftly went for a hug. I wasn't expecting it and was now laying in the grass, Shisui on me with a puzzled expression on his face.

"I thought you had some balance!"

"Yeah well, wrong!" We stared at each and laughed, him crushing me under his weight, his arms around my waist and his head in the crook of my neck. "You know, right when the funerals ended, it started to be sunny in Kiri. When I go back it won't be anymore, but it was surprising. I kinda miss the sun like this one." Shisui pulled his face away from my neck and put it just centimeters away from mine. "Huh?"

"I know you want me to move on and be happy, but...I'll start when you leave the village, I have a feeling I won't see you for a too long while."

"What are you getting at?" His eyes fell on my lips and a blush crept up from his neck to his cheeks. "Oh I see," I whispered. I raised my hand and put it on his cheek, my thumb rubbing the corner of his lips delicately until my hand went up to his hair. I wrapped my other arm around his neck and he didn't waste a second before diving toward my lips, the friendliness in his eyes replaced by love.

My lips moved on their own against his, my hand grasping his curls when his tongue met mine with more conviction than last time. My entire body warmed up and I enjoyed the feeling of his hand against my cheek, how his other hand was caressing my waist above my shirt, squeezing slightly the spot just above my hipbone. I pushed his head closer to mine, his lips crushed against mine but they started to move faster, more frantic, like his tongue. I shivered when his cold fingers caressed my warm skin when he slipped his hand under my shirt and moaned in his mouth. I arched my back and huddled against him because I wanted, needed more contact and…

"Alright, enough," Shisui whispered against my lips. I looked at him with hazy, half-lidded eyes and my lips still slightly parted from the kiss. He stared at me for a solid second with...with pure lust and moved back, sitting next to me and not looking at me. "Don't...look like that..."

"Like what?" I murmured, slowing sitting as I was doing my best to cool down.

"Like you looked a second ago, or I'll take you back to my place to do more than just kiss."

I blushed and cursed at how my stomach twisted in excitement at what he was implying. If he had not stopped...I wasn't sure _I_ would have.

"Can we cuddle?" I asked shyly. He looked at me from the corner of his eyes and I don't know what he saw, but he gently took my arm and pulled me against his chest.

My hormones and natural messed-up state of mind were really making...urgh, I didn't remember ever appearing so vulnerable in front of old Itachi, except for when he left for good.

Still, I enjoyed the moment.

Nothing more happened.

* * *

I went shopping with Hinata and Sakura, who was not as nervous around me as in Kiri. I invited Kou but he glared at me, probably cursed me in his mind, looked at his sweet Hinata-hime, glared some more at me and told me to bring her back by six in the afternoon at the latest. Fashion was different depending of the country, if people really wanted to stare at me I would give them a good reason.

I told Tsunade-san what Obito offered me. She nodded gravely, and on a more cheerful note, gave me the written proof Sasuke managed to convince her and that I would be his jounin referent.

I found myself in being the other part of the exchange, for a year and a half, like Sasuke. However, Tsunade-san and I both agreed that my presence here would be more profitable once Jiraya-san and Naruto would be back.

"But please, keep the fact I'm the other side of the deal for you?" I asked Mikoto-san and Fugaku-san in the latter's office.

"Tsunade-sama did not explain what Sasuke told her to convince her though," Mikoto-san mused, the official papers in her hands. They didn't have anything to say in the matter as Sasuke was a genin and got Kakashi's signature. But, out of principle, I came to tell them.

"She mentioned politic arguments," I told her with a shrug.

"I can think of one or two," Fugaku-san said. "I guess the missions the Mizukage will give him will cover the expenses?"

"Well, it should but Haku and I should have a spare room in our new place, with the village still rebuilding I was thinking letting him live with us during his stay." Her mother looked at me in surprise.

"That's very generous of you Akane." I waved her off as if it was nothing.

"Trust me, it's nothing." Yeah, who knew the Yuki clan's treasury was intact? Guess who had it now? Yep, Haku and I. "Actually, I have a request."

"What is it?" Fugaku-san inquired in his ever sternly voice.

"I won't be in Konoha until Jiraya-san and Naruto are back, I would like for Sasuke to stay with me if he wishes to until then." At this point, I was staring in Fugaku-san's eyes, and he was doing the same. After very long seconds, he sighed in defeat.

"There is little to no chance Sasuke will turn this opportunity down, and anyway, he has matured in Kiri, this could be a great opportunity for him if you guarantee his return to us Akane."

"Of course," I agreed seriously. "I'll make sure Sasuke comes back in one piece. Just, I'll tell him myself at the end of the exchange, so please don't say anything to him?" They gave each other a look but nodded anyway.

"We're home!" I heard Itachi's voice say from the entry. I focused a little and sensed Sasuke with him.

"Will you be able to control the Curse Mark if needed?" Mikoto-san asked me worriedly. I smiled at her.

"Yes, it seems like Jiraya-san saw a situation similar to this coming and he left me a lot of notes on the mark and senjutsu in general." Someone knocked on the door.

"Come in boys," their father told them. I turned my head and saw Itachi and Sasuke appeared behind the door, their surprised gaze falling on me immediately.

"Akane?" the oldest said. I grinned at him and looked at Sasuke.

"You need to tell me how you got Kakashi's signature to impress me even more than I already am." He widened his eyes for a second and smirked in pride. Itachi looked down at his brother and then at his parents and I.

"What am I missing?"

"You'll behave while you're in Kiri Sasuke."

"Yes Mother."

"Father?" Itachi called his father, completely lost even if he was covering it quite well. Fugaku-san sighed.

"Your brother made the Hokage agree in picking him as the participant of an exchange between Kiri and Konoha to strengthen the bond between the two villages." Itachi blinked once, then twice and looked down at the smugness Sasuke was giving off. "Sasuke, Akane offered to accommodate you for the year and a half you will spend there."

"Thanks nee-san." I smiled at him.

"It's nothing, you'll help us move." I stood up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find Kakashi and see if his student wanting to train with me made him cry. Goodbye." I was just reaching the lobby to put my shoes on that a hand on my shoulder stopped me. I raised my brows at Itachi. "Hum?"

"I need to give it back to you." I clapped my hands together.

"Right." I followed him up the stairs and to his room.

I had already been in his room. When we were fifteen, I went to Kakashi's to be his favorite annoyance once again. I was at his window and surprise, he was just out of the shower, just a towel around his waist. I didn't care about that, still don't, but he didn't have his mask on.

Yeah, he didn't. Nobody moved for long, long minutes, me thinking he was very good looking, until he growled my name in a threatening way. I ran away and as he chased me through the village, fully clothed, I made a list of all the hiding spots I had.

Funny enough, the one I knew Kakashi wouldn't dare to go to was the Uchihas' and I spent a week hiding in Itachi's room, the latter providing me asylum. He denied it, but I swear he looked impressed when I told him what I had accidentally done.

It had not changed. It was still perfectly tidy and sober in the decoration. There was an open book on his bed and a box of weapon supplies under his desk. He walked over it and grabbed the…

I froze on my spot when I was handed a black diary with a locking seal on it. It was still active, but from the used outlines, someone tried to break it.

I gulped with difficulty. A while after I arrived, I had written down everything I knew about future events. In another diary, I wrote what happened to me to remind me if I were to forget.

It was this exact diary Itachi had in his hands.

"After you left, the kids went to your room and stole it, thinking you left them a puzzle to solve. I took it from them and forgot to give it back to you." He looked at me expectantly but I didn't move. "I didn't read it. It's a diary, isn't it?"

"Why didn't you read it if you thought I was dead?" I asked him in a rush, my trembling hands slowly grabbing it. I hugged it close to my chest, as tight as I could.

Itachi had been so close to the truth for so long and…

"I was tempted to at first," he confessed quietly, "but I didn't, because even if you were dead, it was still yours and I couldn't violate your thoughts like that." Here there were, his honorable actions.

"Thanks." I cleared my throat. "That someone told me things about my future too and this...this is too personal."

"Oh." His gaze fell on the diary. "It explains why there is such a strong seal then." I pursed my lips and nodded distractedly. "Can I ask you something Akane?"

"Sure."

"Are you planning on stopping our friendship?" My head rose brutally and my wide eyes looked at his face. He was indifferent, as always, but there was a glint of irritation and sadness in his eyes.

Fuck you Shisui, screw you.

"I...I don't know," I admitted and his shoulders tensed, like his jaw. "It..."

"I understand why you would want to do it," he stated coldly. "However, there is no way I would accept such a stupid decision coming from you." I gaped at him.

"'Stupid'?"

"Do you really think you can get rid of me that easily?"

"You would have respected my choice!"

"I would have if it was justified and taken when you have your head on your shoulders. Right now? Absolutely not, you're just being an idiot who's scared." I glared heavily at him. "Our villages won't become enemies again, we'll make sure of it."

"If you think I think so much about my village, then...fuck, Itachi that's...URGH!" I tucked my diary under my armpit and pushed my hair back. Itachi's face changed and he grabbed my arm, eyes alert.

"What aren't you telling me? What are you hiding?"

"He asked me to join him!" I confessed, his hand becoming slack around my arm. "I teleported Yagura to the training grounds, Naoto arrived and said there was someone so I checked. He was there and we talked, he tried to make me join him, and why wouldn't he after all? He put me in Kiri for a reason, and it was his only. He tried to convince me and…and for a second I surprised myself believing him and wanting to..."

"You didn't," he cut me off sharply, grabbing my shoulders harshly. "You're still here, and we'll keep you here." I smiled sadly at him.

"No you won't, I won't let you. I'm not like you, I'm loyal to people, not to a place that can fall too easily between the wrong hands. If I...I was always on the road when I was younger, I'm not afraid on going back if I feel I'm not reliable, if I feel I'm adding trouble instead of helping."

"We won't let you," he told me again, pulling me harshly in his arms. "We won't let you change side."

"I'm more a time bomb than anything I think," I mumbled in his ear. "That's why I was doubting so much, I don't want you to feel guilty or doubt if we were on different side. I want you to go directly to the easy option, not waste time looking for others." He hugged me tighter. "Please..."

"Don't say it."

"Please if I ever become an enemy to you, to Konoha, to Kiri, to Naruto, to Sasuke, to anyone, then please..."

"Don't say it," he asked more quietly.

"Please kill me." He took a shaky breath. "You're the one person I know will do it. Please promise this to me. That's what I want, I don't want to be a danger to all of you, so please..."

There was not a sound for a while. Then, he leaned his forehead on my shoulder.

"Did you think not being friends would make me feel less guilty?" he whispered and I bit my lips. There was pain here.

"I don't know."

"You're the worst." He moved away from me and his Adam's apple moved when he gulped silently. "I will." I lowered my head, my eyes closed.

"Thank you Itachi. Sorry for burdening you like this."

"Hn."

* * *

It was strange. Itachi pretended like nothing happened but he was still distant. Maybe it was his way to deal with things after all, there had been a lot of that lately for him. Shisui saw that too yesterday when we were at a tea shop the three of us, like before, and there was tension between all of us actually. I asked Shisui if he had had a fight with him, but he just grinned at me, ruffled my hair and told me it was nothing worth mentioning, so I dropped the subject. Oh, and because of the risk of blindness, I sealed his Mangekyou. He didn't have a say in the matter, Fugaku-san forced him.

Currently, I was on oji-chan's head, Jiraya-san's first book and commercial flop in my hand. It was the one Minato offered me when I was a kid and Mom gave it to me when I left home. What was not my surprise when I saw a message at the last page. I had not read it yet, but I knew I would.

" **What is the plan now?** "

"Y _ou've been strangely quiet for a while._ "

" **I didn't see the need to intervene when you were already surrounded by people.** " I smirked. Yep, that was true.

" _Well then, the plan is working with sensei and train_ _ing_ _Sasuke. Probably focus on myself, finally start mourning my old life and...and you know, try to move on maybe. I don't want a relationship or children, I can't anyway, but...maybe see Kiri becoming like I want it, as my grandparents loved it, would be good."_

" **I see.** " There was a moment of silence where I looked at the dawn slowly getting brighter. " **I want to tell you about the Eien Hansen.** " I frowned. Now?

" _Go ahead._ "

" **It's an ancient weapon of the Uzumaki clan, and it** **is the last functioning one out of four. As you've seen in Uzushio, they had a teleportation device made up of a variation of the Hiraishin. I don't know what the three others really did in the past, although I think I sealed one of them without realizing it at the time. What this one does is...it is a container. It, supposedly, against a sacrifice with a strong chakra, activates and absorb all of the chakra.** "

" _All of it? What do you mean by that exactly?_ "

" **That's what my research taught me, it absorb all of the chakra. That's all I know. I don't even know what it does with it.** " I pondered over that for a moment. That..sounded a little like…like that God Tree thing did to everyone when we were in the Infinite Tsukuyomi. " **You were the sacrifice that would have activated the machine.** "

" _Of course, Fubuki was everything but a potential candidate for that._ "

With this, the conversation was over. I walked calmly to the gates of the village, where Mom, senpai, Sasuke, his parents, his brother, Shisui, the Hokage and Kakashi were already the…

Wait, Kakashi!?

"I got lost on the road of life?" I tried with an embarrassed smile.

"And it's hard to find your way back, I know," Kakashi added, raising his eye from his book. I nodded vigorously, returning Shisui's hug and glaring at Kakashi sneering at me.

We proceeded to say our goodbyes. I had to promise Mom I would take care of myself, and Sasuke, and Haku. After a brief nod of the head to Fugaku-san and Mikoto-san's crushing hug, I went to hug Kakashi. Unlike Shisui and much like senpai, he rejected me. After a brief talk with the Hokage, my eyes searched for Itachi and found him, standing a little apart from us and just watching Sasuke and his parents. He must have felt my eyes on him, because he turned his gaze toward me. He stared at me, indifferent, for a second and gestured me to get closer.

I did, without suspecting anything weird for a second.

Actually, even when, in front of him and two of his fingers poking my forehead I still had not fully understood what had just happened.

"Take care of yourself for once," he whispered softly to me. I blinked in surprise.

"Yeah, the same goes to you though." A smirk appeared at the corner of his lips.

"You didn't really give me a choice, did you?" I rolled my eyes at him and punched him in the shoulder, making him take a step back.

We left Konoha.

On the way, we stopped near the Uzumaki temple and I took the Shinigami mask, finding it way too easily among all of the masks there were.

When we arrived in Kiri and were going to sensei's office, I was thinking about Jiraya's words in the book. He wrote down how writing could be the cure to any inner, emotional, angst, that it was a great way to move on. He wrote how it could help me free myself from all of the bad emotions I was keeping for myself.

I was seriously considering it.

Sensei told us to enter her office quickly, but I stopped when I saw her.

"Sensei..."

"Huh?"

"Is that a baby bump?"

"Oh, yes it is."

Another unexpected change.

It was a big one though.

Sensei never had a child before. Nor a husband.

Somehow, I couldn't help but think this fact would stay the same.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to mikan26, NguyetMieu and kankananime123 for the reviews! On this note, the _Naruto_ part is officially over!**

 **Bye!**


	60. FILLER: Uchiha Itachi: To Live

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

 **PS: Lemon at the end of the chapter!**

* * *

"She has a lot of potential, but it's clear to me she doesn't want to use it. Not anymore, she was forced to and it repels her too much," Shisui told him, watching over the Naka river as the moon was almost up in the sky. "It's her right to decide whether or not she wants to use it, and explore her potential. Right now, I fear Konoha is not the right place. With the clan, I don't want to put her in another Kiri."

"But Akane-san is still alive." Shisui smiled sadly.

"Yeah, traumatized and broken, but she is. She needs time to recover from what they made her do for the past two years."

He still remembered that discussion with Shisui when he came back from his mission. Itachi looked down at Akane, sleeping against the trunk of a tree, her arms wrapped around herself to keep her warm. Kisame was sleeping on the other side of the fire and he was on watch duty. His Akatsuki coat was not keeping him extremely warm and the light of the fire was burning his now sensitive eyes, but it did not keep him from looking at her from the corner of her eyes. Shisui had asked him to keep an eye on her before he committed suicide, so when she appeared out of nowhere in front of him, screaming she would kill Sasori, he kept her from getting herself killed.

At first, when he allowed her to stay with them as their clandestine fellow traveler, it was what he kept telling himself to justify his actions. Not that it was not the case, but there was something else.

In her eyes, he did not see judgment or fear or hatred, all of the things that people usually felt when they saw him and knew about his past actions. As always, the thought of the night of the massacre brought back the taste of bile in his mouth.

He was not sure if she knew he was aware she used to be in Kiri, and did not care. She did not mention his actions, he would not mention something she probably wanted to forget. It must have been the reason why she was friendly with him. He did not kill Shisui, the only thing she really seemed to care in the Uchiha massacre, and had not done anything to her. The civil wars in Kiri and how the village ordered the slaughters of most of clans must have numbed her to the things a village could do to its own people. In a way, he never told her why he killed his clan, the real of false reason, but she was smart. He was perfectly aware of how she would sometimes stare at him thoughtfully, as if she was trying to solve a puzzle.

Even if she did not remember it very well, Akane was the last person he knew from his childhood. Unconsciously, that was what he was seeking in her presence. Someone who would still see him for himself and not the cold persona he had built after he left Konoha to fool Madara. He knew what he was doing, why he was here, but Akane was a perfect way to keep reminding him of that, of who he was and what his dream was.

He was letting her stay for his own selfish reasons and, with how lost she was in her own life, he did not feel any remorse about doing it. Maybe she would find something she would like to do.

Itachi rubbed his eyes. Facing Jiraya-sama and Kakashi-san had been tiring. However, even with how close they had been to Konoha, Akane staying outside of the village and away from them in town, he felt a little bit happy at the fact she had showed absolutely no desire to go there. He would not have to keep her against her will.

With Danzou in Konoha and the Third dead, Itachi knew the former would want Akane again and he would not fail keeping the promise he made to Shisui years ago.

"With the shadow of the fire, you look like you're brooding or planning someone's murder," Akane mumbled next to him. He shot her a look. She was now sitting next to him and yawning. "Was it weird to see your brother?"

"Hn." He could do without her bluntness though. Although, sometimes it was nice too.

"I saw Jiraya-san in town too."

"Did he see you?"

"No, I hid before and he was with a luscious brunette anyway." She yawned once again and looked at him sleepily. "You can sleep if you want to, I'll guard. I've had a nightmare."

"You're too tired to be on watch Akane."

"So not true," she muttered, rubbing her eyes in hope to keep them open, but her lids kept closing on their own. "It's..."

"Go back to sleep," he advised her, a hand on her shoulder to push her down to the ground. She didn't protest, only mumbling things to herself, already back asleep. Itachi grabbed her bag and put it under her head.

Seeing Sasuke had been weird, and unexpected. He had grown up and developed his skills, as he learned the Chidori. He was still immature though, and Itachi couldn't die just now.

But he didn't want to think about his brother now, or how the fact he put him through the Tsukuyomi for a second time was making him want to puke.

* * *

"Itachi!?" she sprinted to him as Kisame turned toward him, eyes narrowed. He had been good so far at hiding his crisis, but he had to have one when they were walking in dead silence. He slapped her hand away when she tried to physically support him.

She went in front of him to try to see what was wrong, but he threw up blood.

Lots of it.

On her, before passing out.

When he woke up, he could only hear Kisame preparing a fire. He blinked multiple for his blurry sight to be clear once again, and once he could see, what he heard was confirmed. Only Kisame was here.

"You gave the kid a scare Itachi-san, she kept cursing you when you were out." Sitting up, the Uchiha realized he only had his shirt and pants on, but not his usual coat. "It was covered in blood, like her clothes, so she decided to find a watering hole and wash them."

"When..." He coughed to clear his throat. "When was it?"

"I don't know, two hours ago maybe," the swordsman replied with a nonchalant shrug.

Itachi got up on shaky legs, grabbed his canteen and went behind a tree to rinse his mouth. He spat out pinky water and the taste of iron was still very much present on his tongue. Once the water he was spitting was clear, he drank some of the rest. It was not much though.

If she had not found a watering hole she would have been back already. He would find her and refill his canteen.

He informed Kisame of where he was going and left without waiting for an answer. He usually felt the symptoms of a crisis when one was coming, but this time it had been unexpected. Pain erupted in his body out of sudden, in particular around his heart, where it usually did not hurt that much.

Itachi knew what it meant. The disease he had, no matter what it was, was progressing. Dying did not matter that much to him, he just needed to stay alive until Sasuke was ready.

He spotted his coat on a tree branch, as flat as it could be to dry. It was still wet, but he couldn't see blood on it. Akane had cleaned it then, and she should be nearby, like water. When he was at the lake, he looked around, but there was no one. The twilight was showering speaks of gold on the surface of the water, giving it a mystic beauty to it. The still surface of the water started to waver near the bank on his right. A figure emerged from it, from side on.

His hand clenched his canteen harder, his knuckles turning white. He was eighteen, his hormones still played tricks on him, reminding him they were still present. Traveling with a girl had not helped, especially when sometimes she would shift in her sleep and adopt sensual positions that would make his mind clouded by...specific scenarios.

Seeing Akane, soaking wet, the water barely reaching her curvy hips and leaving him free to see a small portion of her round bottom...his mind was already drawing the rest of it. He could see her nipples stiff from the cold water, and her breast, not too small or too big, just proportional to the rest of her body, her _beautiful_ body to the dirty part of his mind who was trying to convince him to join her, were also firmer because of the temperature, a drop of water rolling on the one he was seeing. Her eyes were half-lidded and her lips parted as she was rolling her shoulders to relieve herself from the tensions in them. When she raised her arms above her head, her fingers crossed, and stretched out with a moan of satisfaction, her soaked long hair stuck to her skin as if daring him to move it so that he could see more, he broke out of his daydream.

He went back next to his coat and breathed out shakily. He was perfectly aware Akane was a pretty woman, she was a cute little girl back then and puberty did wonders for her, turning into a gorgeous woman. He didn't need his body to agree so much with him like it was agreeing at the moment. Itachi closed his eyes with a disturbed frown. No matter how hard he was trying, Akane's naked body kept appearing, looking more and more inviting each time. If he had put his hand on her back, would she have shivered at the unexpected warmth on her cold skin? Would she have leaned into him, seeking more warmth? Would her eyes have showed heat like his owns would have while looking at her? Would she have blushed if his hand had traveled from her back to her bottom to caress it?

He had to think about something else. Now, or…

"Oh, Itachi, you're awake!" His eyes snapped open and he grabbed his coat to put it on, hiding his now visible erection. He couldn't let her see him like this and think he was a pervert.

Why did he care about that by the way? Akane could think what she wanted, he didn't care. Right?

"Hey, it's not dry yet, you're gonna get sick," she warned him as she stopped next to him, her fingers ruffling her damped auburn locks. "You apparently don't need that right now."

"Water," he heard himself say coldly. She seemed surprised for a second at his tone, but pointed behind her anyway.

"There's a lake, I swam a little. I find it warm enough from me, but it might be too cold for you." He didn't bother showing her his canteen to explain why he needed water. It was cold? Perfect, it would be perfect. "Well you're welcome you ungrateful ass," she muttered when he left her.

She was right, it was cold. It was the perfect temperature to cool down his overheated body.

When he retraced his steps, Akane had not moved. Her hands were together as if she was holding water in them. She was, but said water rose in the air to form a very detailed snowflake. At least he thought, because even if from afar it looked like a snowflake, as he got closer, he saw the details were clumsily done.

Itachi blinked when it froze.

Hyōton. He wasn't aware of that. Shisui had mentioned potential, but Itachi thought it was fuinjutsu, something she had already done in front of him. Not Hyōton, not a kekkai genkai typical from the Land of Water.

"Akane." She jumped, startled, and hid her creation from him with wide eyes.

"I didn't do anything!" She blinked at him in confusion and, when she fully recognized him, sighed with a hand on her heart. "Fuck, you scared me."

"Why did you hide it?" he asked her, crouching next to her. She slightly tilted her head on the side and her lips, full, defined and pale lips, parted to form an 'oh' of understanding.

"Old habit die hard I guess, I was told I shouldn't be doing that with my ability. A waste of time he said." She pulled out the sculpture from behind her back and dropped it on her laps. A frown of deception marred her face. "I still suck." Without asking, he gently took it between his fingers to inspect more closely.

"It needs more definition," he agreed and she raised a brow.

"No offense, but I don't picture you as a guy that has an artistic bone in his body. That's more puppet man, and the loud blond with him, no?"

"It is," he confirmed flatly. He wasn't an artist. He could copy an artist with his sharingan, but it was just copying.

"Thanks for your opinion anyway Itachi. My brother was way better than me." Her brother. She had a brother? Probably dead from the use of the past tense. "Thinking about it, I think you may be sick with what he had too." She pursed her lips with a clouded gaze. "I hope it's not, but...but it might be. I mean, maybe I missed symptoms you had, but you seemed taken by surprise by it too. Was...was it centered around your heart?" He frowned and slowly, nodded. She looked down. "No symptoms and the heart...it has already progressed quite a lot then..."

Was she concerned or just reminiscing of her brother, hence the troubled expression on her face? In any case, Itachi did not like one bit how his stomach twisted in a painful yet pleasant knot.

His mission, his mission was his priority. Nothing more, nothing else.

Akane was just a side mission, Shisui's side request that he was fulfilling.

* * *

Ever since that day, he could not keep himself from thinking about what was under her clothes. It was stupid and disgusting, he hated his body and hormones for not moving on. Sure, Akane was beautiful, but a body was nothing more than a body. It did not, should not, deserve so much of his attention and thoughts. Knowing the subject of such dirty thoughts was so close to him made it even worst.

Another thing that started to happen ever since, was he noticed the stares of other men on her a lot more now. He didn't know if she didn't notice or was acting oblivious to them, but he noticed and it made something burn deep inside of him. He knew perfectly well what they were thinking, all of them, because he thought it too. However, he wouldn't do anything whereas they would, at least try, without really caring about Akane and it…

It made his blood boil in his veins like it had not for years.

It made him wonder what she was doing. They were in a small village at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth. Kisame and him had a mission and Akane had been on her own doing her own thing for the past three weeks. Actually, they were waiting for her at a tea shop, ready to leave but Akane was not there yet.

"Maybe she died," Kisame suggested out loud. "Wait, the kid's way too good at surviving, she's late."

"I am indeed," Akane confirmed, falling on the bench in front of them. "Sorry, I was...in a meeting." The two missing-nin stared at her and Itachi noticed the green apron on her shoulder. "I have news. It was fine and all traveling with you, but I'll stay here." Itachi kept staring at her, thinking he heard her wrong whereas Kisame was grinning next to him.

"Finally good news!" She gave him the finger and the Uchiha frowned. He did not want to leave her alone so close to Iwa, how could he make sure she was fine if she was not with him? He would not fail Shisui.

"You need a job." She showed her apron.

"Found one here."

"You need a place to stay," he hissed at her, glaring coldly at her to remind her she had to…

"Have one, a house. I helped a grandma who lost a lot in the wars and she passed away three days ago. My stuff is already there, I was with the attorney for her will, to prove I didn't take advantage of a poor old woman."

"An old woman gave you her house?" Kisame repeated in wonder. She shrugged. "Kid, you really have a way to survive."

"An old friend of mine used to tell me helping the elderly was always rewarding. Who knew?" She turned to look at Itachi in wonder. "Itachi, you okay?"

"Hn." She had a place to stay, a job and wanted to stay here. She was far from Konoha and Danzou. No, no matter how hard he was thinking about it, he had no arguments to keep her with them. Plus, staying here would not put her so easily on the Akatsuki's, and Madara's, radar.

She had every right to stay, it was her life and she lived it as she wanted to. He had no say in that. Absolutely none except if he wanted her to see him as her jailer and not as a friend. Because that was how she was seeing him, she told him clearly once. The lack of distrust toward him and the way she spoke to him were enough proof anyway.

He really couldn't think of one thing to say to convince her staying there was a bad idea.

Why was he so reluctant to leave her alone anyway?

Well, he knew the answer but did not like it one bit.

The entire way from the tea shop to the small house in the woods, fifteen minutes away from the village, it was the only thing he could think of. She kept seeing him for him, not the murderer, and it reminded of his dream and why he did what he did, why he was still fighting. She was his reminder of a happier past and of a happier Itachi, someone he thought disappeared long ago but that she seemed to see in him. Little by little, he could feel him trying to come back to the surface. He wanted Akane by his side for his own selfish reasons, and by wanting this he was keeping her from moving forward. He was a dead man walking.

He couldn't take her future away from her just because she was making him feel good about himself.

He shouldn't have allowed himself this one selfishness. Now he was finding very hard to let go of it.

"Getting cozy," Kisame noticed as he entered the house without asking, getting a heated glare from Akane in return and most probably many silent death threats from the young woman.

"Get him out!" she yelled at him, pointing at his partner. "He listens to you! Please Itachi get him out before I have to burn down my new place!"

"Kisame," he called his partner without thinking. He didn't want a headache now.

"Got it Itachi-san, I'll be waiting." On this he left to go in the woods. Akane snorted.

"He's just at the limit of my sensing range." She sighed and smiled at him. "So, huh...thanks for supporting me for these past months, it was nice to be around people. I mean you, not that fish guy you're dragging with you." She tiptoed to be at his height and wrapped her arms around his neck. On the outside, his face did not change an inch, and he did not hug her back. On the inside, his heart was racing in spite of him. When she let go of him, he cursed himself for missing her warmth against his body. Her scent of vanilla was already imprinted in his brain.

He was being stupid. His thoughts were stupid and nonsense. His body could go to hell with its reactions.

Leaving her here was the best for the two in the end. He would be back to his usual self and forgot about these...unpleasant feelings.

Even if when he saw her smile and her looking at him as friend, being the only one she was looking in such a way, was more than pleasant.

"You can stop by if you're in the area you know, you're more than welcomed in my..." She turned and showed the house. "...beautiful house!"

He wouldn't though. He needed to put an end to it once and for all. If...if she had hinted an interest, maybe he would have let his desires…

No. No, it was not a good trail of thoughts he was getting on.

"Don't cause troubles," he told her before before turning away to leave.

"Hey!"

He didn't turn around, only walking deeper in the woods to join Kisame. The latter sent him a look when he saw him, but Itachi ignored him.

Sasaki Akane was out of his mind once and for all.

This stupid childhood crush he had had on her that came back and turned into more would be gone soon.

* * *

He hated her.

Well, it was the total opposite, and he hated her for that. Was he that naive to think not seeing her every day would make it better? Because he had been gravely mistaken.

If Shisui had been here, he would laugh at him for fooling himself. Truth be told, he had been fine pretending he didn't care about how she was doing until they were given a mission near her place. Kisame had shot him a mocking look he ignored.

He was not really experienced with girls. He was aware he had had a lot of admirers in Konoha, but he did not give them any importance. Except for Izumi, who had been his friend. She was in love with him, he knew about it, but with everything with the clan and the village, he did not have time for that. Even if pretty much everyone thought they were in a relationship, they were not. He did not care about that at the time, and never saw Izumi as anything but a friend who would grow out of loving him.

This...this was different. He was yearning to just see her from afar, get a good look at her face once again and then he would be off.

It was exactly what he was doing. Seeing her smile so much was strange, she wasn't one to smile if she did not see a reason to, but now it was her job. She seemed to be fine though, not skinnier than before or tired, pretty much healthy in general.

She was doing good on her own.

She was doing _perfectly_ good on her own.

It should not irk him that much.

He wanted to ask her how she was himself.

When he found Kisame, the two did not talk that much. Kisame, however, threw him something when he was ready to leave again. Itachi caught it with ease and looked at it, then looked at his partner. He shrugged.

"You'll thank me later Itachi-san, trust me."

Kisame grinned at his partner when he left in a silent body flicker.

He had taken the pack of condoms with him.

Once Itachi was at her place, he discarded her surprise at his sight immediately. He was the first one surprised by his presence after all. It did not take long until they were finally kissing. The Uchiha felt tension being taken away from his shoulders when his lips moved against her own, when his tongue met hers with passion, wanting so much more than a kiss, even if it was already intoxicating to him.

He knew he was in love with her. He did not know if it was mutual yet, but from her reactions when he took her in his arms and dropped her on her bed, there were feelings.

"Bring it on Itachi, bring it on." He smiled sincerely at her, his heart racing in anticipation and excitation.

He had wanted Akane for months. Ever since he saw her at the lake, he had had a deep, lingering need to make her his, and his only. He would make this memorable for the two of them.

His lips found hers once again, hungrily, greedy, and his tongue teased hers and explored her mouth, making her moan. He felt her fingers at the back of his head and quickly, his hitai-ate hit the wall in a 'clang'. Then, her fingers grasped his hair as she arched her back at his hand pulling up her tank top, pushing her body against his. He kept his groan of pleasure at feeling her against him and wavering of pleasure under his hands.

He moved back, leaving them both blushing and panting from their kiss. She sat up and let him take off her top, like she took off his shirt a moment later. Her eyes traveled up and down his chest and her lips found his jawline, her hands running up and down his chest, in a slow and lewd way, making him understand she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

When he stood up, she looked lost.

"The bed," he told her before going to the living-room. He grabbed the condoms and when he went back to the bedroom, was pleasantly surprised to see her in her underwear, the sheets almost thrown on the floor. She eyed the condoms curiously. "Kisame gave the..."

"Urgh, I get it, come back," she stopped him with a pout. He did, dropping the pack on the nightstand.

Akane laid back on the bed, her head in a pillow, and he made his way between her legs. Quickly, he unhook her bra, throwing it on the side like the rest of her clothes, as she pulled down his pants. His lips found her neck and sucked on it, making her moan shamelessly in his ear. His groin hardened at that and he found himself pushing against her. Her hands back on their exploration of his chest, she rubbed herself back against him. He muffled a moan against the smooth skin of her neck and grabbed one of her breast as his mouth captured hers once again. Her arms wrapped around his neck, she kissed him back with the same need he had for her.

Her breast was warm and soft in his hand, but kept getting firmer with arousal. His thumb was rubbing her nipple gently, getting it stiffer and stiffer. He broke the kiss, a string of saliva between them, and looked at her face. She was blushing, the blush spreading to her chest, and was panting, looking at him through her lashes with half-lidded eyes filled with pleasure and lust. He smirked down at her and was fully hard at the moan she tried to muffle with her hand when his tongue found her nipple and started to play with it. His hand was massaging her other breast and she ended giving up on muffling her moans, instead pushing her breasts more against him by arching her back, her head thrown back in her pillow. His lustful eyes were watching every single one of her reactions, more and more heat pooling down in his groin. He let go of her nipple, now wet and darker than the other one from the treatment he had had, to put his forehead against hers. He left a soft kiss on her lips.

"Akane..." he whispered to her. She looked back at him and bit her bottom lip, slowly nodding her head in understanding. They both wanted and needed more from each other.

He needed to prepare her first. He took off her panties, pleasantly wet because of him, and he stopped for a second at the display in front of him. Akane blushed in embarrassment and took the pillow to hide her face, whereas he was just looking at her. What he saw at the lake had haunted him and his dreams, but what he had in front of him was better. Spread out on her bed, her legs open to him, her chest moving up and down fast, the redness of her skin because of his touch, the sweat caused by their activities…

He took off his boxer, leaving his length finally free from his last article of clothing. The scent of her arousal was too much to keep things slow.

She sat up, stealing a quick kiss from him, and put a condom in his hand.

"You know how to put it on, right?"

"It can't be that hard." He ripped the packaging and, after a quick look at it, put it on. All of this under Akane's heavy gaze. "Are you okay?"

"It's...hum...big and...long..." she stuttered, still staring at his erection. He looked down at it too with a small frown.

"I'll be careful. You stretch too and accommodate to it. I just need to use my fingers first." She nodded quickly and raised her eyes to him, a look he couldn't identify in them.

"We're about to have sex." He blinked at her and nodded. "We're...really about to have sex. Sorry, I just need to say it out loud, makes it more real to me."

"Do you want to stop here?"

"No, I want it now. I...want you." He pursed his lips, his eyes darkening in lust at her. She kissed his jawline, having understood it would be his weak point. "I want your mouth on me...Itachi, I want you _inside_ of me." He licked his lips unconsciously, which made her push her chest against his. "I want your cock inside of me." Hungry lips found hers.

If she wanted dirty talks, he would give her some later on. For now, he was all too happy to comply to her wishes. She had one arm around his neck, the other buried in his hair to keep his mouth against hers. His left hand was pushing back her hair from her face as his right one caressed her cheek, then her throat, slid down between her breasts, on her stomach to her pubic hair. She stopped breathing for a second when his fingers slid between her wet fold, nobody having touched her like that before.

He felt himself swelling in pride at that thought. The fact she was already so wet when he had not touched her there before made him swell in pride even more.

He moved his head back a little, attentively watching her face as he plunged a finger into her wet core. She did not seem to be in pain, just curious at the new sensation. After a few seconds of thrusting his finger inside of her, he decided to add another one. It was slightly harder to put it inside, and he saw her bite her lip in pain. He kissed her cheek and ran his finger in her hair to relax her and she flashed him a small smile, pulling him into a slow and sensual kiss, her tongue exploring his mouth now.

When she moaned as he was thrusting his fingers inside of her, he pulled them out and placed himself in front of her entrance. They exchanged a meaningful look and he kissed her gently when she gave him a small nod of the head, before pushing inside of her. He kept pushing, tearing something apart inside, until he was fully in.

"Damn it," she cursed, pain written all over her face.

"I'll wait," he murmured in her ear, starting to kiss her in the neck to get her to relax.

He wanted to move. She was so deliciously wet, warm, tight around him...it was like nothing he had experienced before. He wanted to move and feel the friction between him and her and make them both feel good, but he couldn't. If he moved, she would just be in more pain.

He had to wait a little bit longer.

"Itachi," she whispered hastily, "you...please move."

"Sure?" he replied quietly in her ear. She nodded and, placing his hands on each side of her head to have stability and with a good look at her face, he started to pull out.

He was almost out when he thrust inside of her again, slowly, careful of the expressions on her face. She understood that and grabbed his forearms. She raised her legs and put them against his sides.

His thrusts became faster when he saw the quiet moan that escaped from her lips. He could also feel her more relax around his length, slowly but surely getting used to him being inside of her. Their breathing kept quickening as he felt his pleasure going up, his pounding, although still regular, was still getting faster.

"I...Itachi..." she moaned as her legs tensed around him. He stopped his movements, causing her to look at him in worry. He let himself fall on her gently and hugged her, one arm around her waist, the other under her armpit for his hand to grab her auburn locks.

His mouth back on hers, she wrapped her arms around his back and her nails started grazing his back. His own quiet moans were mixing with hers. He broke the kiss and put his temple against hers when his pounding became irregular, his climax just right there.

"Itachi!" she moaned louder and in a low, animalistic groan, he came.

They were both panting hard. Itachi stayed inside of her and, after recuperating for a minute, pulled out and knelt between her legs. He blinked at the thin trickle of blood on the condom.

"I...I bled?" she asked as she sat up. He took off the condom, nodding, and tied it up to throw it away.

With a tired sigh, she fell back in her pillow. She squeaked in surprise when he was rubbing her clit with two fingers.

"I...I thought we were...done..." she stuttered before moaning.

"Did you come?" She shook her head 'no'. "Then we're not done."

She came. Silently, but he saw her body tensed before relaxing, a blissful expression on her beautiful face. She smiled and pulled him into her embrace with shaking limbs.

"You're sure it was your first time?" she asked him and he looked at her from the corner of his eyes. She was smirking, a peaceful expression on her face.

"Yes." She pondered over that.

"Stupid genius." He rolled on the side and looked through the window. The night had already settled down outside. "We...probably should take a shower. You go first." He sat up and looked down at her expectantly. She raised an eyebrow. "What, want me to go with you? You don't need me to take a shower Itachi."

"It depends on what I do in there," he replied casually. She sent him a luscious smile and sat up too, kissing him at the corner of his lips.

"There are towels under the bathroom sink," she whispered to him before giving him a push. He rolled his eyes with an amused smile at the corner of his lips. She laid back down and stared at him thoughtfully. "Having sex woke up something in you?" He didn't answer her. His eyes traveled one last time up and down her body and he went to the bathroom.

The next morning, she did not turn him down when he pulled her on him to sink on his length in a loud moan.

He left the next afternoon, finally satisfied. Would he come back? He probably shouldn't, she probably wasn't expecting him too. Yet, a month later, he was back on her couch, quietly reading one of her book after dinner as if nothing had ever happened between them. She was tapping her foot against the carpet of the living-room and he was getting a lot of satisfaction out of this situation. She was clearly waiting for something that was not coming.

When he stretched out his arm in front of her, leaning over her lap to grab something on the small round table next to the couch, she finally lost it. He smirked when she tackled him to the couch, straddling him and her hands closed around his collar, her angry lips crushed against his.

"You're a real jerk, you know that?" she hissed at him an inch from his face. He raised a brow.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure, because you're a jerk." She kissed him again and his hands were already under her sweater, resting of the skin of her lower back. She broke the kiss with curiosity in her brown eyes. "Itachi..."

"Hn?"

"Wanna try oral?" He blinked at her, and before she could say anything, he was the one on top of her. She chuckled. "I'll take that as a 'yes'!"

It was bad. He was totally, completely, utterly, addicted to her.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to mikan26, NguyetMieu and kankananime123 for the reviews! No, Shisui and Akane are not in a relationship, it's more like a goodbye. Mei having a baby is totally new and Naruto will be back in the Shippuden part. And well, Akane is friendzoning Itachi after all, but...I can't say too much, but there will be changes in the dynamic of the trio.**

 **Bye!**


	61. FILLER: Uchiha Itachi: To Love

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

* * *

Kisame covered him every single time he went to see Akane. He did often. Every time he would be in a hurry to find her and sink into her warmth once more, and more time passed by, the hardest it was to leave her. Officially, they were two friends hooking up. They knew there were feelings, but they knew it was pointless to say it out loud, that it would really be the beginning of their downfall, in particular hers.

He couldn't give her any future. He wanted to, he desperately wanted to go find her and drop everything to never leave her side again, but he knew he couldn't.

He should stop going. She should stop letting him in.

This situation had been going on for almost two years yet he was perfectly fine going back in the bubble they had created for themselves, away from the real world.

It changed when he was in front of her door. Something was not right. He took off his coat once he was inside but kept his shoes on. His eyes widened at the sight of blood on the floor going to the bedroom, and the heavy smell of blood made him nauseous. His legs took him to the bedroom, where there was even more blood going to the bathroom. Itachi froze and momentarily forgot how to breath at the morbid display in front of him.

There was so much blood. Akane was lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood, two deep gashes on her exposed stomach. She must have tried to stop the bleeding herself, as the medicine cabinet was wide open, some bottles knocked down and a roll of clean bandages had fallen and rolled out in the sink.

In the blink of an eye, he was next to her. His love was pale, too pale to his liking, wasn't responding at him tapping her cheek and her pulse was almost non-existent. His body moved on his own and he started to fix her the best he could. If there was one thing his mother had taught him as a shinobi, was first-aid. She had always been a perfectionist about it and did not let his father have a say in the matter: Itachi would be able to save, or at least try his best, to save a comrade if there was no medic.

He grabbed a cloth and wet it in cold water, cleaning her wounds swiftly. He did not have the time to be delicate with her, and she was not responding anyway.

He disinfected it quickly and grabbed what he needed to stitch the wounds. He heated the needle enough to cauterize them, even if just a little, and closed them. He cut the string with his teeth and wrapped the bandages tightly around her abdomen. It was probably too tight, but he would not take any risk.

He grabbed a clean towel and spread it on her bed. He scooped her easily in his arms and placed her on it before grabbing something to clean up the rest of blood on her hands, and arms, and even face. He stayed next to her on the bed, his fingers frozen on her pulse to make sure it would be okay. The dread in his stomach did not make it easy. There was so much blood, Akane would probably…

He gulped silently. The shinobi world had taken everything from him. His innocence, his childhood, his hopes, his best friend, his parents, his clan, his village would kill him on sight and the little brother he loved so much hated him with all he had and would put an end to his life one day. The same little brother who listened to his advice and left the village to go seek power to Orochimaru.

He caressed one of her cold cheek. That same shinobi world took a too huge chunk of her life too, traumatized her and broke her. They were two broken pieces of a puzzle way too big to be seen in its entirety. He knew the piece he was would be thrown away soon, it was broken beyond repair. But she was not. He refused to let that world take the last thing he had away from him.

To his surprise, and relief, he heard her take a loud breath. Her pulse started beating harder. Was it because he stopped the bleeding?

Itachi sighed. Of course, the Uzumaki clan was known for their vitality. What he did must have been enough for her body to do the rest on its own. It was good, because there was no way he could get her to a medic or a medic to her. He had pills to recuperate blood faster, that was it. He'd wait for her to wake up.

Now that his fear of her dying in front of him was over, his anger started to rise inside of him. He did his best to clean the bathroom, his mind trying to find a reason as to why he had found her in that state, why, _who_ did that to her.

When she woke up, he made her swallow two pills. He let his anger out, asking, demanding explanations. She got angry too at his misplaced concerns and he had had the urge to scream at her how stupid she had been to go on her own. He just grabbed her neck to remind her how easily she could die, but the next thing she spat at him stung deeply. She realized too, because she looked horrified at what she had said.

His heart was beating painfully in his chest and he decided to leave. She was alive and...and it would be better if he left. It had been stupid all along to keep coming, one day or another they would…reality would get back to them. Her loneliness and fear of bonds, his crimes…

There was no happy ending for them.

That was why he ignored her when she called him, yelled at him to wait with pure anguish and fear in her voice. After all, she had been right, who was he to tell her how to live or take care of herself? They couldn't be in a relationship because there would be no future for them, he would just keep her prisoner of him and his name, his sins. He loved her too much to put that on her shoulders, he couldn't do that.

He would not come back. Then, then she would move on from him.

He gulped, swallowing the lump in his throat. It was normal, he would die soon and she would move on. She would find another man who would love her and he would give her the life he wanted to give her but couldn't. She would be happy and maybe, maybe she would start doing fuinjutsu again. She admitted to him she loved it, but that ever since her mother's passing and her lingering guilt about it just killed her creativity toward it. There was a difference between doing fuinjutsu and using fuinjutsu, she spent hours explaining to him thinking he would understand.

He did, but he was more focused on the rare passion on her face than what she was saying. He learned that the chakra control needed for fuinjutsu was akin to the one needed for medical ninjutsu, but that the former required more creativity toward the latter required more logic and knowledge known by heart. Once you had the basics of fuinjutsu, you could do it on your own. The basics were huge and hard to learn though.

That was all he wanted for her in the end. Her happiness, even if it was not with him, even if he was not the reason, he just wanted her to be happy.

He would not go back. This time, this time he would stop this selfishness once and for all. It was pointless and one of them had to put an end to it.

It would be him, as always.

* * *

"Aren't you more thoughtful than usual Itachi?" Madara asked him as he swirled into existence next to him. Itachi glared coldly at the man. Usually, he would have been at Akane's waiting for another mission, not Ame.

He really despised this place. The never ceasing pouring rain matched too much his thoughts to his liking.

"Not in a talkative mood I see," he noticed wryly. "Maybe it has something to do with the reason you are here for once." Itachi did not pick up on that, on what he was implying. If he showed he did not care then Akane would not become a way of exerting pressure on him. "I wonder how this dear Akane is doing, don't you?" He glared at the man and felt anger rising as he could just picture the satisfied smirk under his mask.

The conversation was taking a turn he did not like at all.

"You know Itachi, she has a lot of potential, with a little bit more time I could have gotten her in the Akatsuki without protests from her." Itachi stood up and faced him.

"What do you want Madara?" He shrugged.

"I wanted and expected a lot from her but your friend had to get her out of Kiri before she was a fully ready weapon." Itachi clenched his fists in his sleeves, his onyx eyes turning red, but his face remaining cold and indifferent. "Did I touch a sensitive point? My bad."

"What do you want from her?"

"Nothing anymore, she's not even a threat since her mother's death. When I think I had plans for her for years and you're the one who ended here, it's laughable. A good turn of event, but laughable."

The youngest saw red for a second.

"Don't look at me like that, I've known about her potential way before I've known about yours Itachi. As far as I know, I know more about her than you at all."

"How would you know her?" he hissed at the man.

"I've lived a long life, that's all." He stared at Itachi for a second and a sardonic chuckled escaped him. "You know what, I'm going to give you a piece of advice. From Uchiha man to Uchiha man."

"I don't care about this," Itachi stated dully as he turned to leave. Madara's voice stopped him before he could.

"You would think losing someone you love more than yourself is the worst pain you can feel, but you would be wrong." There was anger in his voice. Anger and something he was not sure he wanted to pinpoint. "No, it's a lot more painful when you witness the whole thing and can't do anything. It's a lot more painful when you're too late to do anything." An image of Shisui flashed through his mind. "Oh, that's right, you already know that. I'm sure you would not care if it happened again, right?"

It was a threat. All he said about Akane, he could feel it was true. He did not know how, why he knew her, what he had planned for her previously angered him, but his threat made him clench his jaw. He did not know if he was serious or just using her to toy with him.

Still, he hated the laugh that echoed behind him as Madara left him alone with his thoughts.

The rational part of his mind kept telling him he should not go back, that it would place her in more danger if Madara knew he could get to him through her.

The other part of him, the one missing Akane desperately and yearning to see her once again, told him to just go and check on her, tell her to stay on her guards. It would just be that.

When Kisame and him entered the tea shop she worked at, she spotted him right away. He would be lying if he did not feel a spark of relief when she was clearly giving his presence more attention than the man flirting with her. She had not forgotten him and was disturbed by his presence.

He entered her house with no problem and sat on the couch, waiting for her to come home. Maybe he should have walked her home, what if something happened? Kisame was off doing his own thing, what if she…

"Fuck Itachi!" He heard her yell in surprise. She kept talking but he did not listen, he just stood up and took her in his arms. She was warm, she was solid, she was fine, just like the last time…

No, the last time he saw her she had been everything but fine. But now, as he was inhaling her scent, as she was apologizing repeatedly to him for her behavior, the only thing crossing his mind was that she was fine. Madara had not touched her, his love was safe.

His teeth nibbled on her pulse point, something he knew always aroused her. She moaned shamelessly in his ear and he pinned her against the wall. They gave up on feeling shame around the other a long time ago.

In that moment, he also decided to totally ignore his rational side once again. He had not made her his for far too long. They both felt it, and be it when he took her against the wall roughly, whispering over and over again she was his, or in her bed, he kept ignoring his mind telling him he was falling into their vicious circle once again.

During the night, he woke up after a disturbing dream. Akane was sleeping like a log on his chest, his arm still around her. He ran his free hand on his face with a sigh, his rationality finally back.

He had made another mistake, hadn't he? That dream was in no way a good sign.

He should not, in his position, be dreaming of coming home and seeing Akane playing with a toddler, the two wearing the Uchiha fan he had not worn in years. He looked down at her sleeping face and ran his hand in her hair. Was it how his father felt toward his mother? A feeling of home and the urge to protect her against anything and anyone?

Had he not chosen to turn his weapons against his home years ago though?

He could only hope Sasuke would feel like that toward someone too one day.

Without a noise, he got out of her hold and pulled the covers up to her chin, said covers hugging her figure perfectly. He sighed and put on his boxers and pants. He stared at his shirt for a while, then at Akane.

He could leave and not come back without waking her up. It would be easy. She would hate him for it but it would be easy. Without a word or anything.

"You're doomed until the end idiot," he muttered to himself, going to the living-room.

He grabbed a melon pan. If she thought he did not know she had a secret stash she had never told him about, she was mistaken. He stole from it every single time with no regret.

He stared at the wall in front of him, sat on the chair at the table, his elbows resting on the table. His chin resting in the palm of his hand, he was halfheartedly eating his treat.

He was called a genius but lost any common sense because of one woman.

"Gosh 'tachi, you're making me want to kill myself right now," said woman sneered behind him before turning the light on in the kitchen. He rubbed his eyes at the aggression and groaned slightly when a hand landed on his shoulder. "What were you doing in the dark eating...hey, you're the thief!"

"Who else?" he whispered flatly, giving her one. She took it with a quiet thanks and posted herself next to him. From the corner of his eyes, he spotted the naked skin of her thighs. His eyes traveled up.

He had missed seeing her wearing nothing but his shirt in all honesty. She raised her brows at him and buried her fingers in his black locks. Without warning, he turned his head toward her and buried his face in her stomach. She was startled at his actions and hugged his head.

"You're...you're okay? I mean...it's not what I said earlier, is it?"

When she said she was in love with him. No, it was the sweetest pain she could ever inflicted him. He shook his head, not caring he might looked like a pouting child.

It was the whole situation, the lack of future for them, how he could not let go of her until the end, and how when he raised his head to look at her, her face was blurry.

He was going more and more blind.

He could only hope the last time he would see Akane, he would actually be able to see her and not just her blurry features.

* * *

He was trying. Ever since they pretty much put a name on their relationship, he was truly trying to give her good memories of their time together. It was small things, but it was the best he could do. She seemed happy about it though, so it was just what he needed to know.

He was being more and more selfish. He wanted at least one person to have good memories of him. He wanted at least one person to remember of who he was and not what he had done. The truth about the Uchiha massacre would die with him.

"Are you going to read his smut too?" He raised his eyes to Akane, sorting her stuff on the floor of the living-room, said floor not visible anymore, like the carpet. It was incredible the amount of things she had in just one piece of paper. "I mean, I'm sure you're done with this one, are you planing on reading his other works?"

"Hn." His eyes were on the pages, but he was not reading. She was right, he had finished it a while ago. He closed it and sat next to her on the floor, grabbing a book that she had just unsealed from a brown used one.

"It's fairy tales from Uzushio, it was my mom's. It came from her grandparents."

"Did your mother seal multiple items in this book?" She smiled proudly.

"Yeah! We were always on the road basically, there is everything in there! From family memories to...hum..." she trailed off as a scroll appeared in her hand. He raised a brow at her intensive staring and shook her shoulder. She seemed to wake up. "So, you're gonna read his porn?"

"Is it better than the real thing?" She blushed heavily and he smirked. He moved closer to her, his hand on the floor behind her, next to her hip whereas he leaned his chin on her shoulder. "What is it?"

"Fuinjutsu for beginner, especially made and customized for me. I...I was the youngest." She opened it and immediately, he could notice different hand writings. There were also childish drawings. Akane shook her hand with a nostalgic smile. "I haven't opened it ever since my stay in Konoha. Oji-chan made me another one after six months."

"The Fourth?"

"He wanted to take me as his apprentice apparently, Kakashi-san had no faith in me the asshole. Heh, you wouldn't happen to know how he is?" She seemed...to like him. She had not seen him for years though, but it still made him stupidly jealous.

"He was alive after his fight with Kakuzu and Hidan," he whispered. She nodded and went back to sorting her things. After giving her some space, he got up and walked to his coat. Touching his pocket, he felt the rectangular box in it.

It had been an impulsive purchase, Kisame had cast him a weird look but had not commented. It was a simple necklace, with a thin silver chain and a ruby pendant. He had yet to give her though. It was probably for the best to leave it for her to find once he was dead.

It should not be long now, his crisis were worst. A few months at most.

"Heh...is it something interesting?" she asked him in his ear. He widened his eyes a little and dropped his coat. "Wow, sorry if I startled you."

"You didn't."

"Riiiight...what's the thing with your coat? You have something important in it?" He nodded without thinking. Yes, it was important. Not...not as important as other things, but important on a personal level. "'tachi!" He pulled the box from his pocket and shoved it in her hands, leaving the house for a bit. There was a river nearby, it was peaceful. Nobody came to interrupt them when they were doing stuff on the bank.

He knew why he was so embarrassed, but there was no way she would see him blushing like a kid talking to his crush for the first time. It had already happened when they were kids and once was already too much.

He was so deeply in his thoughts he did not hear Akane walking up to him. She knelt on the weedless earth and hugged his waist, her forehead against his back. He sighed slightly at the dilemma in her. He had the same after all.

"It's beautiful, thank you," she whispered. "But..."

"I know," he cut her off sharply. He knew all too well what she wanted to say. 'You shouldn't have' or 'why?' or anything that would make them talk.

He didn't have much time left, how would she cope with his death? He wanted her to move on, eventually she would, but when would she? She would be alone again.

Itachi turned to her and grabbed her chin between his fingers. Her gaze was clouded with concern, and with a small sigh, he leaned his forehead against hers, his nose grazing hers.

"Akane..." He noticed how she held her breath at her name. "Once I'm gone, go to Konoha. Go to safe..."

"No," she refused coldly. "Not with that old asshole still around." He looked down. He could not blame her for not wanting to reappear on Danzou's radar, even if she was too old now to integrate the Foundation. "You can't ask me to do that."

"Kakashi-san would protect you."

"To the best he could, he's not...I'm not even sure the Hokage could really protect me if Danzou set his eyes on me. No, no I won't go back unless I have a very solid reason." She wouldn't go back on her decision, he knew that look in her eyes.

"Then promise me something."

"What?"

"When I am leaving for good," He ignored her teeth biting her bottom lip. "don't try to keep me from leaving. Let me go." She looked at him in disbelief. His hand landed on her cheek and he ran his thumb on her quivering lips. "Akane..." She averted her eyes and nodded weakly.

"I...fine, I won't try to keep you from leaving." Satisfied with her answer, he kissed her softly on her lips before moving his head back. "Itachi..."

"Hn?"

"Do you...do you think that when it's my turn to die, we'll be together again?" He pursed his lips ever so slightly. He never spent too much time dwelling on what the after life looked like. Even if the idea of seeing his loved ones once again was appealing, he would be more tempted to think that once you were dead, you were dead, end of the story. Although, the Edo Tensei brought back the souls of the deceased, so there had to be something after.

"If it's the case," he started quietly, taking a strand of auburn hair between his fingers, "then make sure it has turned white." She chuckled without real conviction.

"It will take a long while for my hair to turn white, or to die of old age actually. I'll...I'll tell you what you missed? And you'll...you'll be there?"

"I'll wait," he whispered. He let go of her hair and put his hand at the back of her head, pulling her against him. He would wait for her turn. He would wait patiently for her turn to see her again.

Her hands grasped his shirt and he stared with hollow eyes at the tree behind her. If he had not come back, then she would not be in pain like that, she would not have fallen in love with him and would not need to move on.

He looked down at her in wonder when she broke their embrace suddenly, staring at the trees at her left with wide eyes.

"Akane?" When she did not answer, he grabbed his shoulders to make her look at him but she would not stop staring.

"It's...not..." she mumbled to herself, taking huge gulps of air. "My...my imagination..." He frowned and his eyes bled red for a second when he felt _Madara_ lurking around. She was a sensor, she felt him but now was in shock. He stood up and, taking her hand in his, pulled her on her feet harshly. If Madara's chakra disturbed her so much, he would not let her be around him for long.

He had taken the liberty to put an incredible amount of seals around her place to keep him and Zetsu from spying on her the first time he visited her. Who knew, he could not find sleep as easily as her after their first time.

Still, when he made her sit on her couch, her eyes were still confused.

"What did you feel?"

"Someone...around but...it was...it was my ima..."

"There was someone around," he told her coldly, finally getting her attention. There was no reason to pretend otherwise. "But it's not someone I want anywhere near you. Why did you react like that?" She did not answer, instead going back to her things, still spread around on the floor.

She searched frantically through a book and with a puff of smoke, she had what looked like a photo album in her hands. She browsed through it and stopped abruptly. She went back next to him and showed him a picture. He immediately recognized the toddler as her, and the boy with red hair that looked a little like Naruto was her brother. A girl wearing a Konoha headband was crouched behind them, an arm around them and a smile on her lips. There was silver hair on the side of the picture and Itachi guessed it was probably Kakashi-san, a younger one, trying to escape, but a hand was around his collar. It was a boy, with orange goggles and the distinct Uchiha look.

"That...that's...the chakra I felt made me think of him. It was faint but..." Her finger was shaking on the boy's face. "It reminded me of Obito. He died during the last war though, gave Kakashi-san his eye so it's...it's not possible, right?" He would keep to himself how the definition of possible or not was vague in their world.

"How did he die?"

"Huh...I think…yeah, they were in a cave and he was crushed under a rock. Kakashi-san and Rin left before the cave collapsed on itself."

"Was he still alive then?"

"I...I don't know, I think. He was alive when he gave his sharingan so...Itachi, it _was_ my imagination, right?"

"Yes it was."

It would be. Itachi did not have the time to investigate what she just said, even if it worried him. He let her rest her head on his shoulder. She was shaken up, he could only hope she would not try to investigate this on her side.

* * *

From the moment he entered her place and told her it would be the last time, he knew she would break her promise.

"Akane." He did not turn to look at her. Her hand was grasping his coat in his back.

"Would you not at least say 'goodbye'?"

"You promised," he reminded her coldly, ignoring her question. She clicked her tongue.

"Can't you even look at me Itachi?" He left a pregnant pause between them until he sighed and turned around. Her face was facing the floor and he did not protest when the hand grasping his coat found his collar. It was shaking.

Her whole body was shaking and he couldn't help but pity her and the state he had put her in.

"I think a lot of things, and I know your disease will kill you very soon. You've waited that moment to face your brother, you don't want to kill him but something else. I know that but...but...have I ever made you dou..."

"No." He did not like where this was going, what she was trying to get out of him. He needed to be blunt, maybe make her resent him for leaving, but she had to let go of him. He did not want long goodbyes, it would hurt them even more. "Akane, let go."

"If I ask you to stay, you'll still leave, right?" His hand closed around her and removed it easily. "You...you're gonna die and I won't...I won't see you anymore..." He lowered his eyes, her hand in his grasp. "I won't see you anym..." He wrapped his other arm around her waist and pulled her against him. She was sobbing by now.

"I'm glad Shisui asked me to watch over you," he whispered in her ear. "I'm glad I had you in my life until the end Akane, you don't know what it meant to me to know you would always welcome me here."

"Don't start being honest now!" she sobbed harder, punching his chest weakly. He did not care, he would allow himself one last selfish thing before he left.

"I want you to move on." She sobbed louder. "But I need you to know..."

"I love you, don't go!" she cried in his shoulder. His eyes softened.

"I love you," he whispered in her ear and she pushed him away. Her brown eyes were shining with tears, her cheeks wet.

"You can't say that now! You can't say you love me when you're leaving me! If...if you really love me, then stay with me!"

"I'm leaving now."

"NO!" She ran in front of the door in a vain attempt to block his way. He looked down at her, his patience toward her behavior, although understandable, running thin. He could not bear her sight any longer. "YOU'RE NOT LEA..." He stopped her by crushing his lips against hers in a salty kiss. She kissed him back with despair, with everything she had, and was hanging onto him. He broke the kiss slowly. "I'm begging you, don't leave me," she whispered once again, opening her eyes. She widened them in front of his sharingan.

Her eyes turned glassy and she shut them as she lost consciousness. He caught her easily and followed her fall, now one knee of the floor and Akane in his arms.

His mask cracked. He lifted her closer to him and buried his face in the crook of her neck. There was no reciprocity in his actions, but he did not care. He inhaled deeply, a hand behind her head, buried in her thick hair. He wanted to remember everything he could, the feeling of her hair between his finger, her scent, her warmth and how she always seemed to be exactly where she belonged when he had her in his arms.

He did not want to leave her behind, and as he was kissing her forehead, the only thing he wished for was that she knew that. He did not want to, but he had to finish what he had started years ago, even if he hurt her by doing so.

He was leaving the last piece of his heart with her.

Itachi snorted quietly and scooped her in his arms, his eyes never leaving her blurry face as he walked to the couch. He put her down gently, a cushion under her head. He covered her with a blanket and stayed next to her. He had to leave, he really had to, she would not wake up until the next morning.

He stayed longer than he should have just looking at her, memorizing for the hundredth time every details that made her her. Then, he kissed her one last time. Her lips did not move but he did not mind. He would not have been able to leave if she had kept weeping like she had for him.

"I love you," he murmured against her lips, his finger tracing the delicate line of her cheekbone. "Forgive me."

He stood up and left quickly.

He did not turn back, and ignored Kisame's look when he found him later.

"Kisame."

"I will Itachi-san. I'll go see the kid after." Itachi closed his eye, his back to his partner.

"Thank you."

When he poked Sasuke on the forehead and smiled at him, he could only feel relief.

It was over for him, and he welcomed death with arms wide open.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to NguyetMieu for the review.**

 **Bye!**


	62. FILLER: Uchiha Itachi: To Die

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes.**

* * *

"Even dead you have to save people!" Shisui greeted him. Itachi blinked and looked at his surrounding.

Right, the after life. A place that looked like the real world. The entrance was in the form of a huge, rocky gate, behind which there was mist. Right now, he was in the replica of the Uchiha compound, where he knew his parents were most likely waiting for him. However, he had a hard time staying there.

Instead, he would go to the equivalent of Akane's house. It was not far, as they did not need to travel or anything. If they thought of something, they would be there. There was no notion of time or space anymore. They could age or be younger as they wished.

Because of that, he met her mother and brother. What had been strange, was how Fubuki, with his eight year-old physical appearance, managed to tell him he liked him for being nice to his little 'Red-chan' but then proceeded to threaten to kill him in many different ways for hurting her.

Not they could be killed as they were dead already.

But her brother was actually friends with Shisui now. It was weird to think they became friends in death but…

It was weirder to see his mother, Kushina and Akane's mother gathering together to look at the living and gossiping to each other.

"Anyway, we're all watching the rest of the war. Come on! Oh, and that Madara guy! It was Obito!" Shisui was talking about it animatedly, as if it was movie, whereas Itachi could only hope things would get better down there. Akane had been right though, and he was glad Obito had left before he could hear her talk about him.

There was a particular place in the afterlife. A wide and large glass that could project the world of the livings and what was happening. Although, what they saw was specific to each of them.

They won the war. They sealed a Goddess. Sasuke and Naruto both lost an arm. Sasuke went back to Konoha.

They all heard Kushina screaming in happiness when Minato arrived.

A girl named Rin, and an old Uchiha woman, were the only ones to greet Obito. He clearly was not comfortable when he saw all of them.

"You moron!" Fubuki screamed as he launched himself at Obito. Obito widened his eyes.

"Fub..." He was punched in the face. Then, the redhead pouted at Rin, who smiled at him.

"I know Fubuki-kun, but it's over now."

When he saw Sasuke asking Kakashi, newly made Rokudaime, a special permission to go and pick up Akane, he left. She told him she would update him on what he missed, he would wait.

"Itachi-kun, don't you want to see..."

"I don't need to," he replied to Izumi, who still looked thirteen. She pursed her lips.

"You're free to do what you want, but you _might_ want to take a quick look at how she has been doing." He frowned.

"Is she alright?"

"Well, yes but..."

"Then there is no need for me to do that." She opened her mouth but Shisui's hand landed on her shoulder.

"Drop it Izumi, he has all the time he wants to watch over her." Then, he went to him and whispered in his ear. "Although, I remember asking you to keep an eye on her for me, not to make your way in her bed." He frowned slightly.

"Shisui," he told him in a reprimanding tone. His best friend crossed his hands behind his head, a toothy grin on his face.

He spent a lot of time at 'her' place. He could not wait the moment she would join him and where he would see her again. Shisui would crash there less often maybe, or he would monopolize her attention.

In any case, she would probably slap him for using his sharingan on her.

One day, his mother came over. He looked at her in surprise.

"Mother?"

"Are you done staring at nothing longingly waiting for the love of your life to arrive Itachi?" He did not know what to say, he knew better than to talk back.

"Son," his father said, walking behind his mother who had her fists on her hips. "How long has it been since you have taken a look at Sasuke?"

"He was on a journey with his girlfriend, why?"

"Wife, Sakura-chan is his wife now," his mother corrected him. His father shot her a tired look before gazing at his son.

"They have a daughter now." Itachi blinked and smiled fondly. Sasuke had his own little family now? It was wonderful.

"How old are they?"

"Twenty-one, and their daughter is called Sarada."

"Please tell me you didn't spy on them too much?"

"The same amount I was spying on Akane-chan and you." It made Itachi freeze. What did she see exactly? "Who do you think I am? I skipped the private things you did together!" His father positively looked blasé behind his mother.

"Itachi, just come." He wanted someone else to endure his mother, he was sure of it.

But he wanted to see his niece, so he followed them. From the corner of his eyes, he saw who he recognized as the Fourth Mizukage, now himself, next to a man who looked like him. There was a man with white hair and purple eyes who shot him a look, and funny enough, Kisame was with them.

They were all from Kiri.

Akiko and Fubuki were with them.

Minato and Kushina were also there, with Jiraya, and all seemed over the moon.

He turned his head, ignoring how he was suddenly supporting Shisui's weight because the latter had wrapped his arm around his shoulders.

Sasuke appeared in front of his eyes, walking next to his wife, his teammate, Haruno Sakura, if he remembered well. She was looking at the bundle in her arms, a head full of black hair visible. Itachi smiled. It was his niece and she was absolutely adorable.

They stopped at a doorstep and his brother searched in his pocket.

"Wait, is he seriously just..." Shisui started.

" _Sasuke-kun, is it really okay for us to stay here for a while? I don't want to bother Akane like that._ " Itachi froze. This...this was Akane's place? It was much bigger than the old one.

Sasuke shrugged.

" _In_ _her_ _message, she said she would love having us_ _over_ _. I still live here officially anyway._ "

"When they came back, Sasuke moved in her new place with her," his father explained in front of his confusion.

"Why would they...live together?" It meant they got along, which was more than he could wish for, but to move in together?

"There were reasons," his mother told him.

Reasons? Was it what Izumi implied before?

Was his love okay?

They entered. It was well taken care of, and it was decorated. Itachi saw a picture in the bookshelf, where Akane was smiling between a grinning Naruto and a slightly smiling Sasuke, both taller than her by more than ten centimeters. Her hair was shorter, barely under her shoulders, but she seemed happy. Her arms were around their waists as they had theirs on her shoulders, making her look even smaller compared to them.

In the picture, she was happy, and it made him happy. In the end, going to Konoha had been a good idea.

" _She's not home?_ " Sasuke wondered. He went to the kitchen and looked at a paper on the fridge. " _Weird, she's not supposed to work today._ "

" _Maybe she is in town? Oh good, a crib!"_

" _Careful, one of the foot is not really stable anymore I think."_

Itachi's stomach twisted and he shot a look at his parents, who were adamant on watching their youngest. Why would there be a crib at Akane's? Why would there be a _used_ crib?

He did not like the guess he had in his head.

Sarada sleeping, Sasuke made tea for them, going through the kitchen with no problem. Itachi did not know how to feel about his brother clearly knowing where everything was in his girlfriend's home. Or was it ex-girlfriend?

Itachi silently gulped when the door opened, a familiar, yet slightly older, woman coming in.

" _Oh you've arrived!_ " she greeted them cheerfully, grinning at them. She was happy, she really was happy. Her hair was longer than in the picture, under her breasts, and she was even more gorgeous than he remembered her to be. " _Your room is ready._ " She went to the crib and smiled fondly at the sleeping baby in it. " _Oh, she's adorable guys. It's too much babies for me in a day._ "

" _That's your niece, she beats any other baby._ " Itachi smiled at that. Sasuke considered Akane as family, it was more than he thought would happen when he asked him the favor of bringing her to Konoha. Akane smirked at him.

" _Talking about niece Sasuke..._ " His brother nodded and put one knee on the floor. Following his eyes, Itachi froze.

He had not noticed. He had not noticed the little girl with dark red braids and onyx eyes hiding between Akane's legs.

A used crib…

" _Mommy,_ " she started with an adorable shy voice, looking up at Akane, her _mother_ , with curiosity, " _is it Uncle Sasuke?_ "

" _Himself, go say 'hi' honey_ ," his love replied in a motherly tone he never heard before. He was dead, this display should not make him fall even deeper for her.

It was not supposed to happen. She was supposed to move on easily. She…

She was not supposed to be pregnant!

"Mother..." he started in a weak voice. Mikoto sighed.

"You didn't want to see her so...we thought we wouldn't tell you about them."

"Them?" he wondered.

"Twins, the boy is not here though," his father explained, careful of his reactions. If his heart was still beating, he probably would have had a cardiac arrest of shock.

"Shisui, why didn't you..." His best friend raised his finger.

"The boy is called Shisui," he told him, making him clench his jaw because of course Akane would name their son, _their son_ , Shisui. "It's my duty to look over him in particular, you would have known one day anyway."

"But...children..." he found himself stuttering in disbelief, aware of other's staring at him. "She...the pregnancy she...she had to go through it _alone_ and..."

"And had to be on bed rest for the end of it," Akiko informed him gently as she joined them. "However, I have to say that I'm infinitely thankful to your brother, he barely screamed when she crushed his hand during labor."

"Sasuke was there?" he asked quietly. Shisui laughed.

"He made her water broke! That's one way to bond!"

Then it was the reason he moved in with her. To help her taking care of her children.

Their children, their babies, their babies who were growing up without a father.

Did they even know Itachi was their father? They lived in Konoha, it would be risky for them and Akane would not put them in danger. She would not make them targets because of their father's name.

"Itachi-kun." Itachi looked at the Fourth Hokage, who smiled at him. "I'm guessing you know about the twins? Don't worry about your reputation. Kakashi and Naruto both made sure they would not suffer too much from it, and my son personally tried to restore your honor after the war."

"Yondaime-sama, what do you mean?" Minato laughed at him.

"Don't call me like that, we're pretty much family at this point, Akane was a daughter to me after all!"

"After the war, Naruto-kun told everyone that you helped stop the Edo Tensei," Mikoto told him. "He said you supported him, and nobody's challenged his word on the matter."

"But your love story turned into a one-night stand," Shisui clarified carefully.

He did not show anything, his eyes going back to the glass, where Akane was explaining that Naruto had just become a father and that Shisui stayed at the hospital with Kakashi-san. Akiko was in Sasuke's arm, her small arms around his neck, and was smiling at him.

A one-night stand.

He understood the explanation, but it was…it was so much more than that or just sex. How did she take that cover story?

How did she handle being a single mother of twins?

From this moment on, he watched his family more often, watching his daughter and son, who had the same eyes and hair color than his sister although his hair looked more like Obito's, grow up. His mother kept saying Aki looked like him and that Shisui had inherited his sweet tooth. He watched his son playing shōgi against Nara Shikamaru, watched his daughter develop a talent for drawing. He watched them being the oldest and Sasuke's and Naruto's children treating them as such with a girl named Sarutobi Mirai, who seemed to be their best friend.

He smiled when his daughter was first in class and when his son would get detention because he stopped a bully. He chuckled when Aki let a 'dattebane' slip, earning a scream of victory from Kushina, in front of everyone and that Sasuke threatened Naruto to make him stop 'tainting his niece's speech'. He was proud of them and loved them with everything he had, even if he was dead and that he could just watch them. Even if they would never know him. Even if he heard his son calling Kakashi-san 'dad' by mistake once.

He loved them more than anything.

Even when Shisui said he was nothing but a murderer who didn't care about anybody but himself on their seventh birthday, he loved them. He followed him running to the park, tears streaming down his face. He sat on a swing and stayed alone until Naruto and Sasuke came to talk to him.

Itachi felt guilty. He should have been the one to talk to him, he should have been there for them. There were things only a father could teach his son, and he couldn't. Like he would not walk his daughter to her husband on the day of her wedding.

Since he died, he had never wanted more to be alive. Seeing the three of them eating together kept reminding him he should have been sitting next to his son, in front of his daughter, quietly listening to his children's day while eating the meal the woman who would have, should have, been his wife cooked.

Instead he could just watch and listen to his brother and Naruto talking to Shisui.

" _It's not easy for your mother Shi-chan,_ " Naruto explained softly, crouched in front of him. " _She's raising you on her own and is working a lot, it's_..."

" _I know that Naru-oji! I know that! It's because of that I don't want Aki to ask about him! If he really loved her, he'd be here with us today! Mom wouldn't...she cries at night sometimes."_ Itachi gulped at that. He never intruded on Akane's intimacy. " _We both heard it. If he was here, Mom wouldn't have to work so much. Uncle Sasuke, you know she won't touch your parents' money, and we don't want her to. We don't have his last name. We're...we're nothing to the Uchiha clan!_ "

" _You know it's not true Shisui,_ " his brother denied calmly, crouching next to Naruto. The boy was crying.

" _I just...I want Mom and Aki to be happy, and if they're not fully it's because he's not here._ _If he were here...I hate him because he's not here with us when he should be! I...I want my Dad!_ " He started sobbing, much like Akane when he left her, and it broke his heart. He was supposed to leave Akane, just her, not children too.

Naruto hugged him with a sad glint in his eyes. He shot a look at Sasuke, who had his hand in his nephew's hair.

" _When you're older, I'll tell you about him. Everything."_ Shisui looked at him with watery eyes and Itachi's eyes widened a little. He did not want his children to know. He already had enough difficulty knowing Sasuke did not tell Akane, but _showed_ her his memories and caused her to have a bad reaction to the Sharingan, he did not want him to tell his children too.

They kept growing up. Sasuke left his family for a long mission and asked for Akane's help sometimes. He watched his children graduating, he watched his love fighting with polished skills he was not aware of, but that made Yagura and the group from Kiri smile in pride. He couldn't help but chuckled when he saw her and Sasuke bickering like real siblings.

He watched her taking personally care of an old Bloody Mist shinobi who was causing trouble, and was impressed by her. Kakashi-san and Naruto had already said it, but there was no one that measured up to her skills and knowledge in fuinjutsu. She was the third youngest Seal Master in Konoha's records. Knowing she had stopped at her mother's death and started again when she moved in Konoha, she could have had the title at the age of twenty-two. Akane was powerful, there was no doubt about that.

Then, the twins signed up for the Chuunin Exams. The first part was in Konoha, the second one was the journey between Konoha and Kiri that they would have to figure out, and then the tournament in Kiri. He was more worried for her than his children. They would pass with flying colors, not just because of them, but also because their teammate was more than good and their teamwork was on point thanks to years of friendship.

He was worried for Akane because the twins' team and Naruto were escorting her to Kiri. She was going back to Kiri, to her birth village, and from the look on the faces of the group from Kiri on their side, they were not all that happy either. Actually, the two Karatachi, he heard Fubuki talking with the one he now knew as the Fourth Mizukage's son Naoto, were nervous.

He knew she was nervous when she went to the grave his brother made for him, deep in the woods of the old Uchiha compound. She left flowers and sat in front of it, caressing the letters of his name with the tip of her fingers.

" _So...hi I guess. If you are really watching from up there, then you know you didn't leave me alone._ " He knew and he wanted so much to apologize for leaving her alone for that. " _I mean, it's hard, I cry sometimes at night because I feel like everything is crashing down on me, it's too much._ _I mean, genius twins, right? But...I don't know what I would have done without them, so thank you for that. That's not why I want to talk about though. I...I am sent to Kiri. My old sensei has been the Mizukage for a while now and I know it changed but...I still have nightmare_ _s_ _of that place. I used to hate Yagura but he was controlled by Obito. I mean, does it mean he was just a witness of what he was doing? I...I guess a part of me has been longing to see the people I still have there, but there won't be Naoto-senpai, or Utakata-senpai, or Mangetsu, or Suigetsu and...I'm just a memory of the Bloody Mist Itachi, and I fear...people's reaction. I want you to be here with me and tell me what to do._ " He wanted to be with her too, had wanted it for ever. " _Naruto will be here but...I miss you, I just miss you so much it keeps hurting. I tried to forget you, I really tried, I even went on a date with the Raikage when I was in Kumo but...but I can't bring a man in the twins' lives without him knowing the truth about you and...when I look in their eyes I see you, how do you want me to move on when I see you everyday in our children's gaze you jerk?_ " She was crying quietly now and he reached his hand by reflex, only to touch a flat surface.

He was not with her. He could not comfort her. He could just watch.

It was too painful to just watch when he knew he was needed.

They went to Kiri. She reunited with her teammate, good looking too and, even if he died years ago for them, he felt the old and familiar taste of jealousy when that Dai was too close to his taste. It was stupid, really, he was dead and wanted her to be happy, but was still jealous.

He looked at the group from Kiri when she met a kid named Kagura, who looked like Yagura. She bought flowers and went to the cemetery. She stared for a long time at the Mizukage's grave, and everyone she knew.

He had never realized it was that much.

When she was in front of Mangetsu's grave, she apologized for failing him. Itachi looked at said person, who had a closed face. Akane apologized, and Dai arrived with his sister, a bottle of sake in one hand and glasses in the other. Then, a man looking like Mangetsu appeared.

" _I granted him a special permission_ ," the Mizukage explained as Akane hugged him.

" _It's good to come home every once in a while!_ "

" _Team Unagi united!_ " They all deadpanned at the medic. " _What, it's our name!_ "

" _It sucks! It sucked back then, it sucks today!_ " his love reminding him, pointing an accusing finger at him.

The Exams happened. He was beaming in pride when Shisui used the Rasengan, then Aki the Chidori. His father was too actually, but Itachi beamed in pride the most when Shisui forfeited against his sister because fighting her was against what he believed in.

Konoha had changed too.

They left, and he knew Akane had needed that to close that chapter. She seemed in better spirits.

A part of him, the same that wished to be raising his children, wished he had been by her side.

A couple of years passed for them, and he was at what would be their final home when Shisui arrived with a panicked face.

"Come, now!" He followed him and was immediately alerted at the number of people watching. "It's...I mean...we're all seeing the same thing. Akane and Sasuke are with Shisui, Aki is hurt and..."

Shisui stopped there at Itachi's concerned face. He just said all the people he loved were in danger.

They were fighting. Sasuke was fighting and saying to Akane she was an idiot, her in front of a wounded Shisui.

" _ _I spent my life running and hiding, it's time for me to do something useful.__ _"_ If it was still beating, his heart would have missed a beat. He did not like the way she was talking. He did not like how Sasuke looked heartbroken, powerless and resigned. _"_ _ _I love you and your sister so much, you're the best things that have happened to me. Remember that okay? Always remember that Shisui.__ _ _"__ No, he really did not like that.

"Minato, these seals Akane is making," Kushina whispered to her husband, holding her cousin's hand. Minato kept staring at the glass, not saying a word. "That's what you used to seal the Kyuubi." Akiko grabbed him by his collar, tears already running down her cheeks.

"Mom!"

"Why would you leave something like that behind! Why...you know how she is! She's supposed to come here once her time has come, not...not..."

 _"_ _ _Fuinjutsu: Death Reaper Seal!__ _"_ What was probably the Shinigami appeared behind her, her soul trapped against it.

Itachi refused to accept what he was seeing. Akane would die of old age and come here.

She killed the man and sealed the seal, before falling in Sasuke's arm. Shisui and Aki were by her sides in an instant, already knowing what was happening.

"What are we doing here Tobi?" They all turned toward the new voice. The Nidaime Hokage was here, next to a woman with red hair, and looked quickly at the glass.

"I'm guessing we're witnessing a new Yurei." Yurei?

"Oh damn, I thought I'd be the last," the woman groaned next to him. "Oh...her watching soul must be around! Do you think it's an Uchiha? It would be soo ironic next to you and me."

"Nidaime-sama? What are you talking about?" Minato asked. The Nidaime noticed him.

"Yondaime? You have used that jutsu yourself but do not know the real use of it?"

"Real use?" Umiko facepalmed.

"That's what happens when a regular chakra summons stronger than them."

Itachi went to check the gate. Akane said she would join him once she was dead. He knew what he saw, he knew what it meant but…

But he still wanted to see her arrive through the gates.

There was nothing.

She was not there. She...she was supposed to rest by his sides once she died, not…

"Come with me youngster!" He was dragged by a man with red hair and old, very old clothing. Quickly back with the others, he went to Shisui's side. "Oh! Umiko, Tobirama! I see, Shishi sent the previous couple to break the news!"

"For now Tobi has been scolding his successor, nothing more Tensui-san."

"Wait...Tensui?" Kushina wondered out loud. She exchanged a look with Akiko. "Doesn't it sound familiar?"

"Yeah..."

"Oh, more Uzumakis! Awesome!"

"They're dead," the Nidaime stated flatly. Tensui clapped his hands together.

"So what, there's no separation anymore! Haven't you seen Madara and his brothers!? Or you and your brothers!? Anyway..."

"What's a Yurei?" Itachi asked coldly

"Well, you know, you Uchiha, have that Curse of Hatred, your sharingan develops through pain? Well the Uzumakis have a lot of regret and basically, by summoning the Shinigami and promising your soul, only if you're an Uzumaki though, you can be thrown back to a moment in your life where you, later on, felt the most regrets. Of course, if a random guy uses it he just ends up in Shishi's stomach." A lot of eyes turned to Minato, who blushed in shame.

"You used a technique you knew almost nothing of to save the village?" Fugaku asked him sternly. Kushina pointed an angry finger.

"Hey! It happened long ago, leave my husband alone Fugaku! And you!" She turned to Tensui. "Tell us where my adorable and lovely niece's soul is going, now!" However, Tensui stared at her with wide eyes.

"Hey, is your hair really doing that?"

"Where is my daughter!?"

"Hey, calm down! I'm the founder of the Uzumaki clan, show some respect for your elders!" He sighed under the two Uzumaki's glare and went to the glass. When he placed his hand on it, the image, now displaying funerals with Naruto and Kakashi in front of everyone else as the previous and current Kage, disappeared. "Okay, here...her soul is traveling back...ten years...fifteen...twenty wow...twenty-three...oh, twenty-four!" A much younger Akane appeared on the glass. She was running.

 _"Will you stop!?"_

Everybody turned to Shisui, including Itachi. Shisui was at a loss of words, gaping at the glass.

"That...that was me?"

 _"Shut up fake, shut up!"_ Akane was running between trees, Shisui behind her. A Shisui no different than the one with them.

 _"I'm not fake! I know it was a long time ago, but I swear I'm Uchiha Shisui Aka-chan!"_

"Did you answer your question?" Itachi asked him dryly. What was that stupid nickname?

Akane's biggest regret was Shisui?

"That's the mission I was sent on to get her out of Kiri."

"It's the last time you've seen each other too." Shisui looked at Akiko with raised brows. "She told me you looked concerned about Konoha, Danzou had tried to get her into his Foundation and she was just out of the Bloody Mist. It would not be surprising she imagined the worst and that the truth she learned when she was an adult was not that far off. She probably felt guilty for letting you go."

"Oh," he said quietly.

"Well, now, every people who died after him," Umiko started, pointing at Shisui, "have a chance at living. She's creating a world parallel to the one you died in."

"He's her watching soul then," the Nidaime told them.

"Yep, because the first person concerned by the regrets of the Yurei becomes their watching soul. Basically, you're doing the same thing than here, but in the new world and you watch the Yurei struggles seeing dead people alive again, including you, and your soul is linked to one another. If they don't break the seal before they die, you and them go to Shishi's stomach for eternity." Shisui nodded solemnly. "However...I get it's troubling when you arrive, but why does she seem so confused?"

"That's on me actually," Umiko confessed with a grave face. "When Uzushio was founded, as I was the current Yurei, I made them bury anything and everything related to that jutsu. It had brought more pain than anything, especially to us, Yurei. But I mean, if she knows that technique, the..."

"Uzushio was destroyed years ago, I witnessed it," Akiko cut her off sharply. Umiko's mouth formed an 'o'.

"Poor kid. But, on the bright side, she succeeded in using a kinjutsu to its full potential, well almost, without even knowing it!"

"Hey, I know Uzu has a gift to survive any kind of situations she gets herself in," Mangetsu said to Naoto, "but I mean, is she serious?"

"In any case children!" Tensui-san cried out, clapping his hands to have their attention. "Now, she will carry the weight of what should have happened on her shoulders. For everything changed, the universe will find a compensation. And...the universe has a funny way to do that. Alright, that's it, Shisui, come with me. You'll be surrounded by luxury!"

"Tensui-san, if the Yurei found herself so far back in the past, then the war with Madara will happen again?" The Uzumaki founder nodded as if it was nothing. "She'll be his direct target."

"Why?" Itachi asked him directly. The Nidaime shot him a disdainful look but Umiko pushed his face with her hands.

"That's because the whole villages system, Konoha and things? That's a little bit because of me. Tobi was supposed to die against Izuna because his Hiraishin wasn't ready yet, and when I got back in the past he won and Izuna died." There was regret still lingering in her voice. "Let's just say Madara ended up discovering it. I broke my seal before, but...he kind of killed me when he left Konoha."

"Because you're an idiot," the Senju next to her hissed. He got a glare in return.

"Is that over? I have stuff to do!" Tensui exclaimed, gesturing to Shisui to come. He made a step forward but his arm was grabbed.

"Itachi?"

"I'll go," Itachi decided. "It must be possible, right?"

"Well, your friend is the one she..." Under Itachi's glare, Tensui's eyes became deadly serious. "That's not how it works."

"Then make it work."

"Itachi..." his mother started, but Fugaku stopped her, shaking his head 'no'.

"Itachi, that's okay, I...I owe her now if..." Itachi shot him a dark glare that made him shut his mouth. Tensui sighed deeply.

"I hate tragic love story with a passion, it never makes it easy. However, it may work. Your chakra is good and there was a deep bond between you two...technically, she also had you in mind too so...fine, I'll take you instead." He nodded and turned to his parents.

"Look over the twins for me please."

"Of course," his father agreed.

The glass turned black for an instant, before showing a building with the kanji 'water' on it.

"Okay, that's Kiri, I remember that building," Fubuki stated. A woman with long and thick brown hair was showed behind a desk. Fubuki blushed. "That's...that's Mei-san! She's the Mizukage too!"

"What's this?" Tobirama wondered as Umiko looked offended.

"Hey, why would they have a preview!?" Tensui stared into nothing for a moment.

"Urgh...from what I understand...because these two, Sasuke and Naruto, kicked Kaguya's ass, the old man gave you a gift. Something about her influencing them." Then, quietly, he added. "I can't believe him, he screams at me for disrupting the balance of life and death by making a pact with the Shinigami and now he's offering a gift? Old geezer."

 _"So sensei, now the Daimyos have signed a treaty too? I mean, he already let us borrow money to put Kiri back on track after the fight and Konoha and Kiri signed an alliance three months after, but still."_

 _"I was surprised too, his daughter convinced him. Apparently, that a woman now leads the village awakened a sense of feminism in her."_

 _"The brat? Geez, that's why she was not a pain last time I went to the Daimyo for business."_ Akane's voice grumbled. Then, a very different version of her appeared. She had a Kiri hitai-ate tied around her neck, her hair reached her breasts, her left eye was lighter than the right one and two sharp teeth grazed her bottom lip. She was wearing a burgundy kimono top that reached under her bottom, with long, loose sleeves. She had a black slinky top that hide her cleavage underneath it. Her left hand had a black glove on unlike the right one. Her black shorts were thick and tight, ending a few centimeters under her top. Then, she had thigh-boot sandals, black too, with small thick hills. She was staring attentively at the string of her weapon.

"Damn she's a Swordsman!" Naoto exclaimed with wide eyes.

 _"It was almost a year and a half ago that we won Kiri back, right sensei?"_

 _"Yes. Your name as my successor has been circulating for a year."_ Itachi blinked. Mizukage?

Akane groaned in annoyance.

 _"I don't want to be the Rokudaime, if anything I was down to be Mangetsu's adviser but he passed away just before the big fight. Hum...I should be glad he had three more years just because Shisui's alive and not feel guilty, right?"_

 _"Yes, just like you should be glad you gave Konoha and Kiri a way to form an alliance over Madara."_

 _"I can't wait for the moment where we'll call him by his real name. I've been going through everything related to Isobu and Rin, but except speculations there is no real proof. Anyway, sensei, next time someone calls me the 'Hero of Kiri' because I took down Yagura, I'm punching them. You can't keep me from doing so. I just broke his genjutsu anyway."_

"She couldn't have..." Obito, who so far had been quietly watching, whispered. Umiko mused in awe.

"She got the Claw, she managed to get the Claw!"

 _"Come in!"_ A pretty girl, or boy, with long dark brown hair entered the room with a baby in their arms. Behind them was...Sasuke wearing Kiri hitai-ate? _"My baby!"_ Mei walked over them to take the baby and kiss him on the head.

 _"I didn't come here to babysit,"_ Sasuke grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. He was wearing a typical shinobi attire from Kiri, except for the red armband on his right arm with Konoha symbol on it. _"Nee-san, when it's your turn to be an honorary shinobi in Konoha, I laugh if you babysit."_ She raised a brow.

 _"Remind me who is still a genin? If you're not careful enough, I'm sending you back to Mikoto-san and Fugaku-san in multiple boxes."_

 _"Uzu-nee, you've received a letter from Akiko-san."_ Akane's face brightened. The image stopped and the glass became clear once again.

Without leaving them the chance to say anything, Tensui grabbed Itachi and left. They were about to cross the gate when Mangetsu stopped them.

"What now?" Tensui whined.

"I have a word to say to Itachi sir."

"Fine, five more miutes," the Uzumaki agreed with a roll of the eyes. "I swear, youngsters!"

"Alright...look, Uzu's clearly back in Kiri for some reasons, so let me warn you. She's not made to be a kunoichi and has breakdowns as a way to keep going. I have a feeling it will be worst with her special case, so don't be surprised if you...see her much darker than what you're used to." Itachi nodded. The concern in his eyes was enough to him.

"Who are you to her?" Mangetsu raised his brows.

"Her best friend." A small smile appeared on the Uchiha's lips.

"Understood."

He followed Tensui and found himself in a different place. It was a forest, dark with only dead trees. Everything was in shades of gray, like an apocalyptic scenery.

"There is a place at which you have a glass to watch her evolve too. Usually, it's the reproduction of a place that meant a lot to you two. I guess you'll find it on your own, bye!"

The Uzumaki left, leaving Itachi alone. He did not care though and started to go home. There was only one place he could think of.

When he was at the reproduction of Akane's old place, he entered it and sat in the couch. There was a glass indeed, and as soon he sat down, it started to display her new life.

He would watch over her. She was the mother of his children and it was his job to be watching over her when her recklessness was too much to handle.

However, watching a different version of him, younger and still in Konoha, was strange.

Then, Akane avoided this new Itachi, then befriended him. He saw them become close friends instead of lovers, and Itachi and Izumi started dating.

He watched, with no surprise, the young Shisui fall in love with his love the same way he had in the past. He saw the young Itachi shutting his own feelings up to let him be happy.

He smiled sadly at her determination about staying away from love, especially regarding the young Itachi.

Then Kiri, and he fully understood what Mangetsu had meant.

Her father had taken his place in the Akatsuki, and the universe had indeed a cruel way to compensate things.

As he kept watching over her and her evolution, he could not help but being proud, so proud, of her strength and resolve. He fell in love long, long ago, but the Akane he first fell in love with would have laughed at the Akane he was seeing now.

He only wished he could be here to talk to her and hug her all these times she thought she could not handle the pressure anymore.

He knew she would make it though.

He had faith in her.

And if one day, she were to find herself in a death like state serious enough to find herself in front of him, he would make sure to send her back down there.

He was dead.

She was not, and he would be damned if he let her die without trying to save her.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to NguyetMieu for the review. I agree, it was a mood killer and I erased it, I don't know why I had left it, I'm not the brightest sometimes x).**

 **Bye!**


	63. Eastern Continent Arc: Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes or any OCCness.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 20**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 14-15**

 **Shisui: 23**

 **Kakashi: 28**

* * *

I was fine.

No really, I was fine. Sensei got a baby, from Zabuza-san, called Fubuki in honor of my brother who, apparently, had a crush on her when they were kids. Mom cried and I wasn't far from it either. Sensei convinced the Daimyo to give us a credit to help rebuilt, and it showed. Although the buildings were in the same cylindrical shape as before, it was more modern. Most of the things got freshened up and the Daimyo was happy to finally have open borders. The Land of Water was now trading regularly with the Land of Fire and the Land of Wave. There were some discussions with the Land of Wind too, but it was still very new.

It would be better once Gaara became the Kazekage, I was sure of it.

Haku and I, with the money of the clan and my new fame that got me admirers among the young generation, literally bought an apartment. When you entered it, you take off your shoes and are in a hallway. On your right, you had the living-room, where the sliding door was always opened. It was wide enough to have ten people in it, with a couch in front of a TV, two windows and bookshelves behind the couch and next to the door, filled with books and scrolls. I kept the most important and confidential ones for me, but otherwise everything went there.

There were pictures on the walls too, and in my room. From Konoha, from before I left for Kiri, from Kiri, from me and my team when we were genin, of my team of genin, the one oji-chan gave me. Things turned sour, but it was a reminder of the happy moments of my childhood, and I should not forget it, even if Dad is on it.

The living-room was in beige and light brown tones, and a light gray carpet was under the couch and the coffee table. In front of that room were the toilets, separated from the bathroom where I had a bathtub now. Next to the toilets were the bathroom, with two sinks and a tub. Opposite to it, next to the living-room, was the fitted kitchen where we eat. It was bigger than my previous one, and the kitchen section was separated from the dining-room section, where there was a table with four chairs, by a beige counter, where there were also chairs. A door allowed us to go to the living-room, and there were two windows too, one in the dining-room, and another one in the kitchen, above the sink.

Then, the hallway went right and left, leading to the three bedrooms. Mine was on the far left and, because sensei asked me to see if I could make a seal to try to reduce the thick mist in the village, on sunny evening my room was bathed in orangey shades thanks to the setting sun. I had a double bed and a sliding door with a mirror hid my closet.

It had a cost, that apartment, but damn I didn't regret it. We all, even Sasuke, brought items to decorate it. It had a homey feeling to it I loved.

Also, I had to admit, I had been trying to make Chōjūrō give ideas, the same his Mizukage self gave, to improve Kiri. He did, and I had little to no shame in taking a little bit of credit concerning the renovation of the fishing harbor at the south of Kiri, or of Kiri in general.

I was in touch with Mom and Mikoto-san. There was nothing from Jiraya-san, but I wasn't worried.

Overall, everything was good. Sasuke had been here for a year and three months already, no Uchiha symbol on his back. He was improving each day and did not have any difficulty finding someone to replace me if I was on a mission. Although, I had not left the country ever since I went to Konoha. I had a lot of work though, so I was cool with it. I was supervising Sasuke's training, giving him directions when I couldn't be here, kept a close eye on Haku's training with Utakata-senpai, taught some fuinjutsu to Karin, all related to medical ninjutsu, who kept training under Dai. I kept seeing Suigetsu, who told me that 'no', he did not want me dead instead of Mangetsu and he was glad I had tried to save his brother, and Chōjūrō, as we were all Swordsmen and had missions together sometimes.

The country overall was more enjoyable.

On my side, I kept improving my Hiraishin and trying to create similar jutsu. For instance, by using the original formula, I was trying to create a new one to create 'corridors' between my markers to let jutsu run through it and pop out at the other marker. Oji-chan was helping me with that, that I wanted it or not he kept helping me.

I was also trying to figure out my brother's technique, how he mixed explosive seals with the Ice Release. If I could master that, I probably would be able to incorporate Dad's seal on my eye to an ice mirror and bam, the genjutsu is sent back to its caster. I mean, Sasuke confirmed it to me. When he looked in my left eye with his sharingan, he saw himself. I had to have it checked often though, as I did not want my optic nerves fried.

"Thanks for diner Takashi," I told my neighbor who had been insisting for months to take me on a date. I ended up accepting, as he would be paying diner.

I was a greedy bitch, I know.

"It was my pleasure Akane-chan!" he replied with a smile, his hazel eyes showing more interest than I was willing to give him, his dirty blond short hair pushed back by his hand. "So...would yo..."

"You said ten, it's ten and a half," Sasuke interrupted us coldly in my back. Takashi's smile turned nervous at Sasuke's sight, who was probably glaring at him above my shoulder. I rolled my eyes and turned to look at him.

"I know, but I'm twenty, I'm allowed to go over the curfew." Haku appeared behind Sasuke, in the traditional blue kimono I offered him for his seventeenth birthday. It was his favorite pajamas now.

"We were worried Uzu-nee. You can defend yourself but you were late, we worried," he reprimanded me with a disapproving frown. I melted at his cuteness.

"I'm sorry Haku, forgive me!" I apologized, running to him to hug him. He stopped me though.

"Shoes first." I pouted and looked at the lonely guy on my doorstep, still glared at by the Uchiha.

"Have a good night." Without waiting for his answer, Sasuke slammed the door in his face. Then, he turned toward me, arms crossed over his chest.

"You're not going on another date with that loser," he stated with confidence.

"None of your business," I told him with a yawn, taking my shoes off. "He paid diner, it won't work another time, the date with nothing after, I think." Sasuke scoffed.

"Good riddance."

"Did he stay here?" I asked Haku, who nodded with exhaustion.

"He tried to leave to spy on you, many times, but I managed to keep him here." Sasuke averted his eyes to the side.

"He's a loser, nee-san is supposed to be with nii-san, she doesn't have time to waste with losers." I stood up and flicked his nose. He rubbed it with a glare.

"For the last time, if your brother asked you to keep an eye on me before we left Konoha, it's because he saw me being a mess and was worried, not because he's in love with me and wanted you to keep every males away from me."

"I don't keep every males from you. Dai still hangs out with you." I did not answer and started to make my way to my room, stretching my arms above my head. I was satisfied when I heard a crack in my shoulders.

"You are both on patrol duty to the north tomorrow, correct?" Haku asked us. Sasuke nodded curtly.

"For three days."

"Are you both packed?" This time, I didn't give him the choice and hugged him from behind, nuzzling my nose in his hair now he was my height.

"You're so adorable and caring Haku!" Sasuke deadpanned at me and, with a 'yes' to my cousin, went to bed. Haku started to walk, with me still hugging him, to my room.

"Go to sleep too." I let go of him, smiled softly at him and flicked his nose too.

"Alright sir, good night then."

I was welcomed warmly by my bed.

Border patrols were boring three-quarter of the time, just as Sasuke's yawn just showed. Ever since the Akatsuki and Kumo in the country to witness me sealing Isobu, there had not been any real threats. Everything was calm.

"Border patrols are so annoying," Sasuke muttered under his breath. I had to agree with him, as I was working on the seal on the palm of my right hand. The Shinobi Technology old Naruto had people working on? I had no shame to replicate it with fuinjutsu. So far, I could stock a jutsu coming from Sasuke as the seal was adjusted to his chakra.

"It's when we complain something truly annoying happens," I told him idly from the top of the lighthouse at Ryoushi harbor. I liked being so close to boats, the sirens actually soothing me. I used to hate water, and even though I was still terrified to drown to death, I loved being near it. It was one of the things I would always be thankful to Yagura.

Sasuke got up on the balcony under mine.

"I need to move," he told me before leaving. I watched him becoming smaller and smaller and set my eyes on the slightly misty sea in front of me. I took a deep breath, enjoying the salty scent of the sea, sadly mixed with the smell of oil coming from the boats.

Because of the mist, the sky was cloudy but it was still milky white. I yawned, listening to the seagulls above me.

It was truly peaceful, like the calm before the storm.

After a while, I decided to imitate Sasuke and went for a walk, my senses still on alert. Even if the docks were crowded with people, I still ended up spotting Sasuke from afar. His katana on his back helped a lot. However, there was someone clearly watching him.

I sneaked up behind them in the back alley they were hiding in, completely covered by a dark brown cloak. I focused on their chakra and felt a drop of sweat running down my back. It was...familiar yet not really. Have I met them before?

In any case, I had a very, very bad feeling.

"Can I help you spying on a fifteen year-old?" I asked them casually, my left hand on my hip and looking closely at my nails on my right hand. The hooded figure turned around and disappeared in a quick body-flicker, to reappear behind me in the blink of an eye. "Shit!" I said louder than I should have

As I ran after him, pushing away civilians in the crowd, I could only frown at their speed. The only person I had ever seen using the body-flicker so well was Shisui.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," I apologized to people I pushed on my way. Once I was out of the crowd, I narrowed my eyes at them and sped-up. My hand was about to grab his cloak after a body-flicker that they used another one, landing ten meters further. Alright… "Hyōton: Freezing Technique!" The mist started to freeze around their legs, making them fall forward on their hands.

I thought I had them, but at my surprise and horror, they did something that brought back painful memories. My ice melted, or more like they liquefied it and turned it against me. I avoided it as well as I could, finding myself in front of a warehouse.

That guy couldn't possibly be…

Distracted by my thoughts, I failed at seeing them controlling the ground made of concrete behind me, molding it in a ball they slammed in my back. I spat out blood and crashed harshly in the ground, breaking it in the fall, an arm dangling above the sea.

It hurt like hell, and I couldn't move anymore. That...something in my back had been touched.

They started to walk closer to me, the blade of a katana shining as it poked out of their sleeve.

"Raiton: Chidori Blade!" They jumped back to avoid a blade made of blue lightning that crashed in the ground. The lightning then increased and touched them, burning a piece of their cloak, before they left. Sasuke appeared in front of me, katana in hand and I was sure his sharingan was burning brightly in his eyes. "Already gone huh..."

"We made that much noise?" He turned to me and knelt on one knee. He put his katana back in its sheath. "It's...embarrassing, I can't really move anymore…?" Sasuke turned me on my back and I screeched in pain.

"At least, you can still feel pain." He placed me against the wall of the warehouse in a sitting position. "I'm taking a look at the scene and then we're going back to Kiri." I chuckled weakly.

"It's lame your jounin referent got beaten so easily?"

"Hn."

The jutsu that guy used...it couldn't be…

No, there was no way it could be possible, right?

* * *

"That guy knew what he was doing. It's a man, right?" Dai asked Sasuke as his glowing hands were examining my back, me lying on my stomach in my bra.

"Yeah, there was a cloak but his figure was masculine. The spinal cord is fine then?"

"It was grazed but I fixed the little damages there were. Overall, he just blocked her back. I'll skip the medical explanations, but go to my sister and tell her Uzu will be fine, maybe one week or two out of heavy duty." Sasuke nodded and left the room.

"Really? It's nothing?"

"Karin's blood fixed the connection between your brain and spinal cord, that's why you can move your legs now," he explained more precisely, straddling my back. "But it could have been a lot worse with how you depicted the fight Uzu. Now, please don't scream in pain, I don't want another complain from you. Who do you think you are to criticize my relationship with my patients?"

"They make us fill anonymous questionnaires, I wasn't going to shut up about how my doctor tried to suffocate me with my pillow last time I was admitted for chakra exhaustion." A vein popped on his forehead and I let out a particular loud scream of pain when he cracked my back.

Never annoy your doctor Akane, he'll make you pay for it dearly.

I couldn't move from my bed for two days, Haku taking care of me whereas Sasuke was training or reading oji-chan's scroll on fuinjutsu he gave me when I was five. When I was allowed to get up, I had to talk Haku into letting me go to sensei's office. It was laborious task, but I won in the end.

Sensei looked at me with surprise when I was in front of her.

"I was planning on letting you have more time off Akane. You can go home." I shook my head 'no' and she sighed. "Fine, Sasuke has already given me his report on the incident, do you have something more to add?"

"Actually, I do. It's..." I bit the inside of my cheek and slouched on the couch of her office. Sensei raised a brow and walked over to me, crouching next to me. She patted my knee to encourage me.

"Is it about the _before_ again?" I sighed and nodded. Sensei was slowly but surely taking measures with Tsunade-san, and I was sure Suna would follow soon. "Concerning this individual? Are they a threat?"

"Not regarding what you're thinking about sensei it's..." Under her heavy gaze, I sighed and sat up with a long face. "Their technique...it was the same than the guy I died against." She widened her eyes in shock and I ran a nervous hand in my hair. "I mean... _before_ he had a mask and now it was a cloak. I can't say for sure it's the same person, but the technique? Yes, I don't think I'll ever be able to forget it anyway. I mean...he's most likely alive in this time period, right?"

She pursed her lips in thoughts. Last time, I was with old Sasuke, who was on a whole other level than any shinobi in this era, and because there was an unstable seal around, he couldn't fully fight and I used the Shinigami seal. Although, I may have used it in a desperate moment and maybe with a little bit more time things could have gone differently, in the end it was sealing him with me in the Shinigami's stomach that stopped him and...his possible Mangekyou.

Gosh, right, there was that possible explanation to his ability to control matter itself!

"I will take a closer look on my side. Once this is done, I'll send you and Sasuke to investigate more. Until then, rest and do the other missions I'll assign to you. I'm handling this."

"Sen..."

"I'm taking care of it," she interrupted me firmly. "If you are right, then it means you already died against him. It won't happen again, especially not under my watch, not on my orders."

I bit my lips. Old Naruto...was he okay? Were old Sasuke and old Naruto okay with this?

I was fine in a week, a week prior to Dai's prognostic. Right away, I was given a random infiltration mission with Sasuke as my back-up. When I said infiltration, I really meant seduction. Yagura never sent me on those, thank God, but sensei did, mainly because she knew I wouldn't need to go to the sex part.

As sensei was a beautiful woman, she was sent on these missions. She got Dai and I to make a seal that could hold poison on her lips. None of us were really confident on the outcome, but we succeeded after many failures. It was that same seal I would get Sasuke and Dai to do on me.

For now, Sasuke and Haku were with me in a store, and none of them were comfortable.

"What's the long faces for?" I asked them as I was examining the fabric of a black lace garter-belt. The town I was going to was more on the modern side, not that much on the traditional one.

"It is...not really comfortable to shop with you right now," Haku ended up admitting, shooting a glance at the makeup in my basket.

"Well, women have more preparations to do in these kind of missions, at least in general. We have to display our sexuality a lot more." Sasuke and Haku blushed slightly at that. "Come on, you're teenagers, you know where babies come from."

"Sure, but it's... _you_ ," Sasuke mumbled, hands deep in his pockets. "It's...not...I mean, you're not..." I raised a daring brow at him. "You should do missions that requires skills and are not based on your gender." Haku sent him a look that said 'nice one'.

"Although I am flattered and I don't want to go on such missions," I started, putting the garter-belt in the basket, along with black stockings, "it wouldn't be fair if I were not sent on missions like that unlike other kunoichi. And, it should not end up in me having sex with them." Their faces went scarlet and I smirked. Still so much innocence in them.

The further I went with that forty year-old man was straddling him and him shoving his tongue down my throat. I released the seal when I felt his boner against my thigh and he went limp. Still conscious, but the poison was paralyzing him.

"See?" I asked Sasuke with disgust written all over my face. I went to the sink and tried to wash the taste of cold tobacco and whiskey out of my mouth. He grabbed the guy's hair and made him raise his head harshly to look at him in the eyes. His eyes became hollow and glassy as he started to speak in an empty voice, caused by Sasuke's sharingan.

"It was a nightmare to watch," he grumbled with a shake of his head. The target fell back on the floor, drooling on the expensive carpet. "And him? He's a drug dealer who has been trying to keep his network alive after the fall of the Bloody Mist, right?"

"Wel..."

"We are taking care of the rest," someone said behind us. I turned around to the two anbu behind us. "I believe you have collected the information needed?"

"Of course," I replied slyly. Who did they think I was? Well, we were? "There is the rest of the net..."

"It has been dealt with, your intervention was only needed for him." Without another word, one of the two body flickered to the guy and slit his throat. My eyes watched the whole thing with indifference, like Sasuke.

On the way back to the village, and me back in my usual and comfortable clothes, I was thinking deeply. I wasn't aware others were already on the case, they could have handled it on their own.

Was it sensei just trying to keep me from taking part in the research on that guy? Or had she already found something she did not want me to know?

At diner, even if Sasuke and I were both tired, we still enjoyed Haku's curry. Karin, Suigetsu and Chōjūrō were here too, so it was animated. Karin was keeping us, mainly me as Sasuke seemed a lot more interested by his meal, up to date concerning her medical training and how Dai and her may have had a breakthrough concerning the artificial version of her ability.

She seemed to be perfectly fine being in Kiri, even if her and Chōjūrō actually lived with Suigetsu at his place now. At first it seemed like a temporary thing, but with time, they stopped saying they were looking for another place. Even if Karin and Suigetsu fought like, all the time, they still lived under the same roof.

I couldn't get the guy with the cloak out of my head though.

"Where are you going so early in the morning?" Sasuke asked me behind me, still in his sweatpants and black shirt. His hair was a mess from the night, but he seemed to be wide awake. I got up once my thigh-boot sandals were zipped up.

"Sensei. I don't like how she sent us on that mission when the ANBU was already on it, she's hiding something." He mused over that and grabbed my shoulder when my hand was on the handle of the door. "What?"

"I'll get change," he told me. Five minutes later, we were both in the chilly mist of an early August morning. "Is it about that man in Ryoushi?" I nodded curtly, a frown on my face. "It's not just me then, being sent on an easy mission was weird in the context."

"I couldn't agree more." I climbed the stairs to the Kage building two by two. "What did you find on the scene by the way? Maybe it's the reason why she would send us away."

"It was just a weird looking kunai." I raised a brow at him. A weird looking kunai? What could they have possibly found about that?

I knocked when we were at her door. I was half surprised to see Ao-san there, as he was working closely with sensei, but it was early.

"Oh, it's you two," sensei sighed, opening the paper on her desk once again. "Don't say anything, you want explanations on why I've sent you on that mission?" I stared at her incredulously. She chuckled. "I'm your sensei Akane, I know how your brain works more than you think."

"So you're gonna tell us then?" Her eyes stopped on Sasuke for a second, and she gestured us to come closer.

"A map?" Sasuke wondered for the both of us. It was a map of the Five Elemental Nations, the smaller ones also indicated but in smaller letters.

"The one everybody knows," Ao-san noted, opening another map on the one we knew. Sasuke raised his brows and looked at it in interest and I shot a look at sensei to know if she was serious. She nodded gravely.

The map had Kiri and the Land of Water on the left side, the rest of the continent hidden. Then, it was mainly the sea, with different islands we knew about but did not really have any contact with. There was one bigger island in the middle, named Sen'i, and then more sea and a huge chunk of earth called 'Eastern Continent'.

"You don't know about it Sasuke and you better keep it to yourself, but we have regular contacts with the Eastern Continent. Although they do no want shinobi going there, we trade goods on Sen'i, including weapons that were the base for many of the weapons you had to work on when you were younger Akane. The weapon you brought back Sasuke," Ao-san quietly put it on the map and I quirked a brow at the emblem in it, a winged-horse in bronz,. "has the same emblem than there is on some weapons we have. I wanted to make sure before I say anything to you, so I sent you on that mission."

"A horse with wings?" Sasuke inquired quietly and I grabbed the weapon. It was not a kunai, but a dagger very sharp. The handle was in bronze, like the emblem that was just underneath the blade.

"It is called Chollima if I'm correct, in our country it is said to be too swift and elegant to be mounted by a regular man," I explained distractedly at him. "That's really all of what is said about it, why would someone have it..."

"It's a legend more important on the Eastern Continent, where that man you confronted is probably from," Ao-san told us. "We never have encountered any troubles with them, but like the Land of Water, they usually stop at Sen'i and do not go all the way to Ryoushi. The fact he was spying on Sasuke is also worrying. There are two months and a half left until he leaves for Konoha..." Sasuke tensed next to me. He was still not ready to go back "We can't afford to let him become a target to people we know almost nothing of."

"You're going on an S-rank mission, both of you," sensei stated, gaining our attention back. "I don't know why someone from the Eastern Continent would be here, but as they started it, I won't keep myself from sending you out there too. Investigate about it."

"What...sensei, you're seriously sending us _there_?" She took a file from her desk and gave it to me.

"Read it, it's all the Intel we have about how it is over there. There are two tickets for Sen'i in it too, but once you're there, you are on your own. Make sure to be back in three months. Don't tell anyone what your mission is."

"If we don't find anything?" Sasuke asked her with concerned eyes. Sensei turned her emerald eyes to him.

"Make sure to be back in three months, I have a month extension for your return in case a mission turns out longer that expected."

"And once we're there?"

"You have carte blanche. If they were spying on Sasuke, it was most likely because they knew he was an Uchiha, otherwise they wouldn't have wasted time like that."

"So at least one person over there is from our continent," Sasuke continued. Sensei nodded.

"I don't like it at all."

We were ordered to be at the gate at six the next morning. I spent the rest of the morning running around the village to get my healing seals filled and other stuff Dai always gave me on missions. Then, I saw Sasuke at the weapon shop and after checking our stocks and weapon supplies, we went home for lunch, where I told Haku we would be gone for a while.

"Can't you at least tell me where you're going?" he insisted staring straight into my eyes. I sent him an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, I really can't." He sighed and knelt next to me.

"Three month is a long time." I draped my arm on his shoulders and pulled him against my side. I leaned the side of my head against his.

"It is, so be sure to talk to someone other than Isobu at least five days a week. And Isobu, remind him of that too, I'm counting on you."

"You can't ask Isobu that." I hummed.

"Yes I can. I'm the one who decrease the strength of his lock, and if you're unhappy he'll be unhappy. Right?" Haku frowned at me.

"I hate it when he agrees with you." I giggled and kissed his cheek. "Next time we're training together, I'll make you regret it if you come home hurt. Isobu too."

"Yes sir."

Next morning, we were at the gates at five fifty, after having Haku checking if we were fully packed and had not forgotten anything. I was perfectly aware Sasuke deadpanned at me when I checked my room to check if I had taken all of my healing seals, the brat.

"It goes without saying that I want you both to be careful and to come back in piece, understood?"

"Yes," we answered in sync and I hugged her back when she embraced me.

"Especially you Akane, if what you think is true then...then be extremely careful."

"I will."

I had not been on an important mission outside of the country for a while.

However, we were heading straight into the unknown, and from Sasuke's silence on the way, I knew he was as preoccupied than me.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to NguyetMieu for the review! And who knows ?**

 **Bye!**


	64. Eastern Continent Arc: Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes or any OCCness.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 20**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 14-15**

 **Shisui: 23**

 **Kakashi: 28**

* * *

Sen'i was actually buzzing with activity. It was crowded with people wearing a different style of clothing, more colorful and...actually reminding me a bit of Boruto's style, and people clothed in a style I was more used to. There were not any big buildings, just a lot of warehouses and a small town. People's chatter was covered by the sounds of the many boats there were in the harbor.

"Let's find our ride!" I told Sasuke loud enough for him to hear me.

"No need, I found it!" he replied in the same tone, pointing at the figurehead of a boat. A winged-horse, the symbol of the Eastern Continent.

"Alright, good job!"

We went behind boxes in an alley and I gave Sasuke a chakra concealing seal, that he activated immediately, like me. We both put our hoods on and made our way between people. Sasuke always had some on my marked kunai on him, as he was better than me at throwing them.

As they were loading the ship with goods, Sasuke and I sneaked inside. It seemed like there was no shinobi on the boat as it left the harbor with us not even hiding in the hold.

Overall, the entire journey was...too easy. Well, there had been some guards to get to the loading place, but with Sasuke's sharingan it was easily dealt with.

"It was too easy, wasn't it?" Sasuke asked me and I nodded.

"If they do not want shinobi there but this is the only security there is concerning the ship. I'm afraid that when we get off the ship, it will be harder."

Against all odds, their ship was faster and more modern than anything in the Elemental Nations. It reminded me more of the ship we took to go to Kiri for the twins' Chuunin Exams.

A day and half after leaving Sen'i, we heard sailors screaming that land was in sight. I leaned on the side to catch a glimpse of the harbor and widened my eyes.

It was well developed. At the extremity of each dock, there was a statue of a Cholloma. The closer we were getting to the land, the more obvious it was their culture was different than ours. The buildings in themselves were...completely different than in the Land of Fire, but the Land of Water? I could see some common influences, especially in the use of the same gray stone than in Kiri.

"We should jump," Sasuke told me, which broke me out of my thoughts.

"We swim," I added after a second. As the sailors were yelling they could have a drink now they were home, we jumped silently and dived in the sea. We made our way to a deserted part of the harbor and climbed on the dock. "You put your hitai-ate away?"

"Along with my armband." We ran in a dark alley between two warehouses and put away all of our wet clothes.

"So," I started, in my tank top and shorts suit, "waterproof clothes, useful huh?" He was dressed like me now, and was already putting another pair or pants on. I sighed at the lack of answer and put on other clothes too, hiding my weapons in a scroll, like Sasuke. We were now, at least Sasuke more than me, in civilians clothes.

We stayed close to each other and mixed ourselves with the crowd. The chatters were loud and fast, professional talks covered by the laughter of a group of children who, from the young woman in front of them, was probably here on a school trip.

It was...so strange. I was no stranger to traveling abroad, but this topped everything else.

"We should get in that pub, maybe we can get some information about that place."

"Bad idea," Sasuke refused, which made me look at him. "I don't think we use the same currency, it would give us away." I growled quietly. He had a point here. "The transaction office on Sen'i was too guarded for us to try anyway without it being suspicious. Let's explore this town."

"Hopefully we know how to live in the wilderness," I mumbled as he was walking in front of me.

We walked away from the harbor and more in the lively heart of the town. We looked around, the foreign food, the different clothes and even the foreign language on the signs, right under ours, made me feel like a real tourist. I stole a newspaper and sat down with Sasuke on the edge of a fountain, some kids playing with a ball in front of us.

"'The war causes two more cities to fall.'? War?"

"It's not in this country, it seems like this one is at peace with the others but...if this picture shows the reality of things, it's awful," I told him, staring at the picture of a building on fire and panicked people running out of it. I clenched my fingers on the paper when I saw a father carrying the corpse of what must have been his child, anguish having taking over his entire body. "Fuck, where did we land?"

"From what the file given to us by the Mizukage said, this country is the only one they made contact with but they don't want shinobi here. However, there are some similitude in the folklore of the Land of Water and the one around here. It could have been only one country long ago. The technology is also very different as there are no shinobi, their weapons are more 'evolved' than ours if we don't count ninjutsu." Sasuke had read the file carefully.

"Precisely," a feminine voice said in front of us. We both raised our head and jumped on our feet, ready to defend ourselves against the…

Little girl? She was wearing a dark brown cloak, like the guy from Ryoushi, and the hood completely hid her face, long and curly light brown locks pooling from the hood around her face. However, from the height, figure and voice, it was a young girl, younger than Sasuke, or someone very short like Yagura was.

"I will ask you to go back to where you are from on your own foreigners," she continued, an obvious accent in her voice.

"Or else?" Sasuke asked her arrogantly.

"Or I'll make you," she stated, raising her head enough for us to see two glowing red eyes.

I froze, like Sasuke, at the two tomoe spinning in her eyes.

What the actual fuck?

"You," the Uchiha next to me started in a low and dangerous voice, his own eyes turning red, "who are you?" The girl started, enough for her hood to fall back. Her hair was long and curly, as I said before, but her face...she was an Uchiha, that was sure, even if her face was rounder than the typical Uchiha.

"What...how...you're an Uchiha!" Sasuke kept glaring at her, but I raised my arm in front of him. I shot him a look from the corner of my eyes.

"Calm down, it looks like we're not in such a foreign place apparently."

"She's right, calm down too Min," a male voice said, walking nonchalantly next to the girl. I frowned at him, in particular at his red hair tied up in a short ponytail, his spiky bangs not covering his dark blue eyes. What was bothering me the most was the whirlpool on his shoulder.

"You know something Hyo?" The guy, Hyo, took his chin between two fingers and mused over this.

"Do I? Who knows, I know a lot of things. But did the old man and Wataru-nim told me something? Maybe." Ignoring the youngest glaring at him, as he looked around my age, Hyo walked over to us. Sasuke slid a foot in front of me in a way to say not to attack me and Hyo smirked, before kneeling. I blinked in confusion. "It is an honor to meet you, Yurei-sama. We have heard many stories about your people from Okuni-sama."

"Why is he calling you like that?" Sasuke asked me. He frowned deeply at my expression.

Yurei-sama? How...he was an Uzumaki, that much was obvious, but how could he know I was a Yurei? Sasuke wouldn't let that slide, especially with the shock and panic on my face and my entire body. I was screwed, so screwed.

Hyo noticed my panic and got up immediately, as if he was a child who got caught knowing too much after eavesdropping. He said something to Min, that I didn't understand as it was in a foreign language. She replied and seemed to scold him.

"I'm sorry, I forgot for a second you were from the Elemental Nations and well...that the clans were not that close over there." I blinked at Hyo in confusion, like Sasuke. "We'll take you to Wataru-nim and Okuni-sama, they'll explain better than us." He grinned to make himself look more trustworthy and Min's eyes went back to their charcoal color.

"You will also explain your presence here." Sasuke stared back at Min, her heavy gaze not affecting him one bit.

* * *

Uzumaki Okuni, an old man whose long hair red hair had finally lost its vibrant red color, dressed in a dark orange kimono, was on his knees in front of us, dark brown eyes staring at me. Next to him was Uchiha Wataru, his dark eyes gauging Sasuke and I. He was also on his knees, in a black kimono, his hair gray. Min and Hyo had left the room, and I couldn't help but wonder the signification of the Uzumaki's and Uchiha's symbols on the wall behind them.

We were in a particular part of the town now, and this place was the only traditional house that looked like something Sasuke and I were really used to.

"Yurei-sama," Okuni-san started with emotion, "it is an honor to meet you." I raised my hands in front of me with an embarrassed smile

"Please, don't call me that. It's not as if I had done it on purpose either."

"But you found the clan's secret room and have the Shinigami Claw, the rules of the clan say we shall treat the Yurei with the most utter respect, that they are above us."

"Why are Uchihas and Uzumakis here?" Sasuke asked them coldly. Wataru-san shared a look with Okuni-san and cleared his throat.

"You, young Uchiha, you're not just an Uchiha, you're important too. I can see it by the way you're behaving. So, are you the heir?" Sasuke pursed his lips and glared, not liking how this man had so easily read him by his movements.

"His older brother is," I pipped up.

"I see. Then, you must know how Konoha came to be, by the association of the Senju and Uchiha clans?" We both nodded. "Then, I'm sorry to disappoint, but even if it did happen, there is something that the Uchiha clan you know and Konoha in general erased from History. Madara was our leader and was the one to accept Senju Hashirama's proposition, but not all of the clan agreed to follow Madara. Many feared his behavior and real ideas, and even if they were sick of the endless battles and losses, they did not believe it would be in their favor in the long term. They tried to talk about it with Madara, but he told them that if they did not agree, then they were free to leave but would no longer be a part of the clan."

"Madara exiled those who did not believe in him?" I asked in surprise. The Uchiha nodded as Sasuke was staring thoughtfully at the floor.

"Of course, these Uchihas were quickly dismissed from History. They traveled and, not finding a place to live in peace with the village system blooming, sailed away to land here and settled down. The inhabitants of this continent did not use chakra or fight as much as in what is now known as the Elemental Nations."

"But if that Madara was your leader," Sasuke rasped, "what made you think you would change his mind?"

"Because only an Uchiha can truly understand what the Curse of Hatred can drive you to do." Sasuke raised his brows and the other Uchiha sighed. "The Uchiha clan...feels love a lot stronger than anyone else. When we are in an emotional situation, there is a special chakra that spreads in your brain and eyes, it awakens the Sharingan. If you suffer a more severe trauma, like killing someone you love deeply, or just feel like their death is your fault and you did not do anything to help, then the Mangekyou Sharingan appears." I knew all that, I knew, and Sasuke too I think. "However, such an important flow of chakra going to your eyes causes irreparable damages. Using the Mangekyou is already painful, but the more you use it, the more you go blind. There is a way to counter this, and this is exactly what that Stone Tablet your clan have says. If you exchanged your eyes with the ones of someone closely related to you, who also has the Mangekyou, it will stop the blindness. Siblings are the ones who reject transplants the less."

"Why does the blindness stop actually?" Sasuke asked him. True, why would it make it stop?

"Because as they are powerful eyes and still have residues of the original owner's chakra, this chakra protects the eyes against your chakra flow and the two chakra slowly merged together. Madara had the Mangekyou, and got his younger brother's, Izuna, eyes transplanted. His Curse of Hatred was far greater than anyone else and a part of the clan left."

Izuna, Izuna...the guy Umiko sealed before dying the first time. The one who looked so heartbroken at her actions.

He was Madara's brother then.

"And you lived peacefully?" Sasuke did not look convinced, even if Wataru-san nodded.

"My father established rules that I keep applying today. When Okuni-san and the Uzumakis arrived, they helped blocking the Sharigan awakening." Sasuke frowned and glared at that.

"You're keeping them from reaching their own power?" The cold gaze he received did not faze him.

"As a shinobi, you may think it is horrible, but we are not shinobi. Except for Min who went through a traumatizing experience and hijacked the seal, everybody is far better without the Sharingan, and are more at ease knowing they won't have it." In a way...it reminded me of the Hyuuga clan a little.

"The Uzumaki clan then?" I inquired to Okuni-san. He smiled sadly at me.

"When Uzushio was destroyed...many fled, many died. A group of survivors, me included, sailed away and we found ourselves at the same place the Uchihas found themselves years before. As we were all from the same place and had a similar story, we settled down next to them and our clans promised to help each other as family. Yurei-sama," I cringed at the title and Sasuke's heavy gaze on me, "may I ask you your parents' names?"

"Akiko and Ushio." He sighed in relief.

"So they both left safely." But boy how did it change after. "And Kushina? Is she still well in Konoha?"

"I'm sorry sir, but Aun...Kushina passed away almost fifteen years ago, when her seal broke during labor."

"I see." There was a pregnant pause, where he was digesting the news. "And her child?"

"Ah, he's fine and with Jiraya-san right now." A soft smile appeared on his lips, even if they were hidden by his beard. "I'm sorry sir, but did you know them?"

"I was the one who sent Kushina to Konoha to replace Mito." I blinked and pointed at him with my finger.

"No...there is no way that you're...the Uzukage, right?"

"That I am." I gaped, like Sasuke, but he was more discreet than me."Have I not mentioned it? I was also the one, along with Umiko-sama, to forbid the use of the Death Reaper Seal and buried everything related to it."

"That you did, I did not know what would happen..." I muttered under my breath.

"And you succeeded in getting the Claw too."

"I needed it to break a genjutsu." I paled at Sasuke's wide eyes on me.

"What the hell did you do in that creepy room!?" he yelled, jumping on his feet. "You almost died! What's a Yurei anyway!? That's a title, not a name! What the fuck did you do exactly!?"

"Insanity, she's the personification of the Uzumaki clan's insanity," Wataru-san replied flatly. "Someone who made a pact with the Shinigami to fix their biggest regret." I glared darkly at him.

"Hey, it's not your place to tell!"

"He's not going to drop it and you can't say a word." I blushed in fury at that.

"Alright Wataru," Okuni-san interrupted us and knocked the top of his wooden staff lightly on the Uchiha's head, "enough of that." I bit my lip under Sasuke's eyes.

"Nee-san," I gulped, "how old are you?"

"I..." From the look in his eyes, he would not have anything but the truth. "I'm...forty-three, or forty-four. I was almost thirty-seven when I used the Death Reaper, thinking it would kill me but...I found myself in the forest, in front of Shisui, who kidnapped me from my mission to free me from Kiri. It...I..." My eyes started to water when I thought at what could have happened and how surreal it seemed to me now. "Danzou would have stolen one of his eyes and he would have killed himself in front of your brother after giving him his remained eye and...and..."

"Nii-san would have killed everyone," he finished quietly, his arms limp on his sides. "You lived a life where nii-san did kill the entire clan but me." I nodded weakly.

"So the clan would have been annihilated?" Wataru-san asked me. I nodded once again.

"Madara's reputation...never really left them and at some point, after the Kyuubi, they just started hating back to the point of no return." He sighed.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" I blinked at Sasuke.

"You're...there was no reason for you to know about it, it's my condition."

"Why did you even use that jutsu, huh!? Almost thirty-seven? Didn't you have people or family!? Why would you do that!?" I blinked in shock. It...was Sasuke the first person to actually ask me the reason of my action? "Wasn't there anybody else with you!?"

"There was," I admitted quietly, "but he was too brutal for the unstable seal next to us. He...he went along with it, unwillingly, but he did and probably hates me for it today."

"What kind of asshole would let you do that!?" He took a deep breath to calm down. "It sounds like you cared about him, and him about you, so what?"

"I didn't give you any choice."

"Th...what did you say?" I smiled sadly at him.

"I didn't give Sasuke any choice and died in his arm, he witnessed another family member dying but he couldn't take any risk with my son behind us and wounded." Sasuke blinked in shock and took a step back.

"I..." I stood up and stretched out my hand to grab his shoulder, but he slapped my hand away with eyes wide open, horror slowly filling them.

"Sasuke." He ran away, pushing a man who was about to knock. "SASUKE!"

"Let him be," Wataru-san said and I glared once again at him.

"That's your fault!"

"I'm not the one hiding such a big secret."

"You..."

"It has been a long day, I will take you to your room Yurei-sama," the Uzukage told me as he got up on shaky legs.

"We still don't know why they're here." I threw the knife at Wataru-san with a snarl.

"In Ryoushi, someone was spying on Sasuke and it ended up in a fight. They left that and it led us here." The two men looked at the knife for a second and the Uzumaki smiled at me.

"Please, we will talk more tomorrow, you must be tired from your trip. We will bring Sasuke-kun to your room later."

I did not pay a lot of attention to the new man in the room, or where they were taking me, but I ended up in a fancy room. I dropped my stuff on the floor and fell face first on the bed. Fuck, I wasn't planning on telling Sasuke, and especially not in these conditions.

In a way though, if my feeling about the mysterious guy was true, then maybe it was for the best after all. It was just...Sasuke was still young. I knew he wasn't a kid and I didn't treat him as such, but he was still young. I mean, until Kiri he had always been sheltered by his family and Konoha. This...my past life was too much for…

"Explanations, now, from the beginning." I pulled my head out of the pillow and looked at him. "No, first nii-san, how...how did he..."

"He died from his disease just a few weeks before he turned twenty-two, in his fight against you."

"You knew him, didn't you?"

"What makes you think that?"

"You couldn't stand being near him when we were younger. Don't lie to me." I sighed and sat up.

"It doesn't really matter if I knew him, in the end I wasn't enough." Sasuke widened his eyes at what I was implying. "In the end, he died and I didn't."

"Tell me everything." I averted my eyes and barely reacted when he grabbed me by the shoulders, one knee on the bed. "Akane, I was there in Uzushio, if anything, you owe me the truth now."

I looked in his eyes. He wouldn't drop it, he would get to the bottom of this. He...he looked so much like old Sasuke right now, the one I would rest upon when I couldn't deal with things anymore.

Maybe...maybe he could handle it.

"Okay." He blinked in surprise and sat next to me.

"And promise me you won't die in front of me." I looked down and he clicked his tongue. He stretched out his pinky, which made me smile a little. "Don't comment, just promise." I sighed softly and crossed my pinky with his.

"I promise I'll try my best not to die in front of you, okay?" He pursed his lips and ended up nodding. "You know, old Sasuke was someone I relied a lot on, for fifteen years. It's...if I tell you, I'm afraid I might do the same."

"Then do." I blinked at the assurance on his face. "I'm clearly your favorite Uchiha, so rely on me, you can't keep carrying that burden on your shoulders only." His eyes got darker. "Especially with how it messes up with your mind, knowing so much information."

"That...is absolutely correct."

After placing many seals around the room to keep any eavesdroppers away, I talked.

I told him everything, concerning the coup, the Akatsuki, the war, his brother and I, the twins, Naruto and him, how he could have walked a very much different path. He listened closely, not showing anything.

I told him the context in which I died. I saw the flash of understanding in his eyes when I mentioned the opponent and his abilities, what we thought it was. I told him how my seal worked, the good and bad things it did. What happened in Uzushio, my watching soul, oji-chan, just everything.

Once I was done, feeling much better now someone else knew everything, absolutely everything, I looked at Sasuke to check his reaction. He was frowning.

"It explains why you've always been so adamant on making sure I was okay even if I was in Itachi's shadow, and how you've always acted with me."

"Is it bad?"

"No, if anything I'm thankful. I'm not planing on trying to conquer the world." I smirked at his sarcasm. "Okay, so nii-san has to celebrate his twenty-second birthday, I'll make sure of it." I tilted my head. "You have been dealing with a lot on your own side, and even if you'll be in Konoha for a while, Kiri still matters. Konoha is the center of everything, my clan is too, I'll help on my side." I smiled in gratitude, my arms going around his neck.

"I'm proud of the man you're becoming Sasuke, sorry for dragging you into this." He patted my forearm under his chin.

"Don't nee-san, I would have known one day anyway. Naruto and I...we have an important part to play in a couple of years. The time would have come where you would have talked to us." I mused over that.

"I can't tell Naruto now though, it's too soon." He snickered quietly.

"Agree." There was a silence and I tried to move away, but Sasuke's hand tightened around my arm. "Thank you, for my parents. And my brother. Thank you for loving him even when everybody thought he was a nothing more than a psychopath murderer. It meant the world to him."

"How would you know that?"

"I spent more time with my brother than the first Sasuke you knew, I know him more. If Itachi kept coming back to...he definitely was in love with you, especially knowing his mission and the Akatsuki was around."

"Oh," I said in a murmur, not expecting Sasuke to talk about that topic. I sometimes doubted his feelings for me, but...but Sasuke, and old Sasuke, were both convinced old Itachi loved me.

I should trust them then.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to NguyetMieu and kankananime123 for the reviews! **

**For the Eastern Continent, I've tried, key word being 'tried', to have more of a Korean influence in the culture, so the foreign language Akane doesn't understand is Korean, but I don't speak so I didn't try to write it. There is also a mix with the Western culture. The honorific '-nim' is the closest thing I found to the '-sama' in Japanese, and the different honorifics come from the fact the Uzumaki is from the Elemental Nations, with the Japanese culture, and the Uchiha was born on the Estern Continent, so it's a Korean honorific.**

 _ **'-nim': used towards someone who is revered and admired for having a significant amount of skill, intellect, knowledge, etc...and is used for people who are of a higher rank than oneself.**_

 **Bye!**


	65. Eastern Continent Arc: Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes or any OCCness.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 20**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 15**

 **Shisui: 24**

 **Kakashi: 29**

* * *

"Is it true you fought against someone from here?" Hyo asked us with curiosity. I shrugged as we stopped in front of the room we were in yesterday.

"They had a knife with your emblem on it." The Uzumaki hummed at Sasuke's answer and we entered the room. Okuni-san and Wataru-san were already there, and we sat in front of them.

"Have you slept well?" The Uzukage asked. I nodded curtly.

"The knife you gave us yesterday is a model our fighters wield." I glanced at the Uchiha.

"We figured that much." He scoffed.

"I mean, among the Uchihas and Uzumakis." Yeah...it would explain their, his abilities, identical to the guy's I took down with me seven years ago.

I had a bad feeling toward this entire mission.

"But I thought we were forbidden to go in the Elemental Nations!" Hyo yelled, Min plugging one of her ear.

"It is forbidden. These knives are all identical, therefore we will investigate. I hope you do not have a problem staying here until we know who the culprit is." We both shook our head in negation. "Fine, Taiga we will proceed to interrogate them." I blinked, finally noticing the man in the corner of the room, standing with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall. He was an Uchiha, it was obvious. His curly black hair was tied up in a low ponytail resting on one of his shoulder, his bang hiding his left eye. His right one was staring at Sasuke and I.

First impression? I didn't like him. I...had a bad feeling, deep in my guts.

"Right away," he finally said quietly, straightening up. He started to walk out of the room, but stopped in front of me with a frown. "I heard what you said yesterday. Thank you for Shisui." I raised a brow and knew Sasuke was looking at him in wonder.

"You know him?" He smirked down at me.

"I guess my little brother doesn't mention me a lot, I left a long time ago." I jumped on my feet, wide eyes stuck to him.

"Shisui has a brother?" Sasuke mumbled next to me.

"You disappeared during the last war, it's the only thing he told me," I whispered in my shock. That...I could see some resemblance with Shisui now but...but God did Shisui feel normal and not creepy like that...Taiga, was it?

"You're friends with him?" I nodded numbly. Friends and more at times but...fuck, Shisui's older brother? "Do you know how my parents are doing?"

"Oh...your father's dead and..." Wait, did Shisui's mom die too? He never talked about her and had always lived on his own ever since I went to Konoha with Mom.

"I see," he said before leaving.

"Min, Hyo, you will be their guides until their departure," Okuni-san told the two. Hyo grinned whereas Min pouted, puffing her cheeks.

I shared a look with Sasuke.

The sooner we knew the truth, the better it would be.

Just like that, a month flew by. We were showed the surroundings and told more about this continent. Long ago, the Land of Water was actually a part of it, hence the similarities in the folklore. However, one day, a natural disaster fractured the earth and my country became an island, now attached to the Elemental Nations.

"And that?" Sasuke asked as we were walking in the countryside, near a field of amaranths. He was looking down at a ditch further down, where no grass or water was. There was just an old statue in the middle.

"Oh, well, do you know the legend of the Rabbit Goddess?" Min asked us and I froze, like Sasuke who remembered all too well everything I told him. "Our country was known as the Land of Ancestors a millennium ago. There was something called the God Tree, but it was destroyed along with the Goddess, but it's just all bullshit."

"Don't disrespect the legend like that," Hyo scolded her with a dark expression. "Otherwise..." He widened his eyes and adopted a 'scary' face. "The Goddess will come and take you at night!"

They started to bicker as my eyes went back to the fucking vestige of the first God Tree. It was true, it...fuck, it was something old Sasuke had never found before.

I gulped.

This whole place...was too close for comfort.

There was a violent draft and some red petals of the amaranths were blown away by the wind.

"There's a rumor that says that if you follow the amaranths, you will find the Goddess's hideout," Min added, pulling on the older Uzumaki's cheek. After all, she was thirteen and him twenty, like me.

Follow the amaranths huh...As we left I looked at them above my shoulders.

They were pretty.

* * *

"So, the more souls I get, the more the marks will spread on my body until it reaches my seal. Only then will I be able to 'summon' the souls trapped in the Shinigami's stomach, the ones I had nothing to do with the sealing." Okuni-san nodded.

"Exactly, depending on the quality of the souls, the mark will spread more or less."

Sitting with my legs crossed in front of him in clothes typical from here, black sweatpants in cotton and a red hoodie with the hood on, because I felt like it made me less visible even if I knew it wasn't the case because I was fully aware of the 'Yurei-sama' when I walked around that part of town. Also, they gave me shoes, black ankle boots with thick sole and shoelaces, but most of all, they were not opened. The fashion here was different, there were common influences but overall, it was different.

It was Heaven to walk with closed shoes without anyone looking at you strangely. For now, I was just in white socks though.

"Now, from the results, there are four souls in your seal but you can only reach one. Everything about that seal is linked. The easier it is for you to activate the Claw whenever you want and not when it wants, the easier it will be to reach the other souls." I guess the perspective of being helped by the Shodai was a good thing but...argh, I didn't want to go through the same mess it was to cut the connection with oji-chan!

" **Thanks**." I growled at him, my eyes closed. I listened to the Uzukage's instructions, that he got from Umiko-san, on how I needed to focus my energy in my core, in my seal, to really be able to identify the power of the Shinigami.

Seven years and I had to go on another continent to have some training for my seal. Which, to be fair, was basically the same than Naruto had with Jiraya-san to use Kurama's power.

I was a jinchuriki rip-off.

I stopped breathing for a second when I felt a dark energy in my own. I felt myself falling asleep and I opened my eyes at that moment, catching a glimpse of purplish chakra disappearing around my left arm.

"As the Shinigami is the God of Death, when you feel its power you feel yourself being attracted to it. If you let yourself completely at its mercy, then you will most likely die."

"Yeah..." I whispered, catching my breath. "Yeah...makes sense. Did Umiko-san have a way to push the need to surrender to it away?" He pursed his lips.

"She often said creating a better future for her loved ones was what was keeping her going. It was what she used to counter the Shinigami's influence." Sure, the guy may have made a pact with Tensui-san, all they wanted was souls. Ours, or others, but the sooner the better.

"Understood." His eyes were clouded for a brief second.

"It was also what made her fight during death like situation. Yureis are more easily tempted by death and dying than regular people."

"I noticed that," I mumbled as I closed my eyes once again, ready to try again. "We're suicidal in a way. We've 'died' once and kind of came back to life, it...it kinda put this idea we're invincible in our mind."

"You too?" Hyo asked me from his spot against the wall. I opened an eye and shot him a look.

"At times yeah, but I know people still a lot stronger than me that could kill me in the blink of an eye." Yeah, if it wasn't for Dad, I would be screwed by the Sharingan. I closed my eye once again and opened them, to be face to face with oji-chan. "An idea?"

"I don't know, I would say to meditate here, but I fear the Shinigami's influence may contaminate this place." I puffed my cheeks. "However, it did something, what you've just done."

"Ha?" He pointed behind him and I widened my eyes, running to the other side of the room.

On the ground were the three Hokage, seemingly sleeping. Minato-oji-chan joined me.

"Me having half of the Kyuubi and you being so close to Naruto for two years created a very easy path for my soul to be awakened in your seal. They were the three first Hokage, they were all spectacular shinobi, it would not surprise me if they correspond to the criteria to be awakened."

"But how?"

"I have a theory, but it will take time and effort on your part." I snorted in disdain. As if I didn't already know that. "Don't give me that look, you're not too old for a lecture." I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest. "They appeared after you tried to get a hold of the Shinigami's power. The more your control over it is good, the more the chances for them to wake up will be high."

"Fuck, I want to help Sasuke investigate too! I don't have the ti..."

"Actually, it's the best moment for you to really focus on the Shinigami Seal for once. Sasuke told you he had this, and that you could trust him while you were getting every scrapes of information you could on your condition. So, trust him."

"I don't want that Taiga to get too close to him."

"You really don't like him."

"Look, it's just...there's already the possibility the guy I died against _before_ is somewhere lurking around. I mean...Taiga is Shisui's brother and I feel terrible for not liking him one bit but...I can't help it, there's something in my guts telling me he's very bad news." Oji-chan stared at me and then, put his hand in my hair. I raised surprised eyes at him. "Oji-chan?"

"I share your feeling more than I wish to," he admitted seriously. "Be careful."

I gulped.

It was never a good sign when someone of Namikaze Minato's caliber said they agreed with you on that kind of stuff.

Never.

* * *

"Huh, it explains why the seal is so similar to the one used for a jinchuriki. It's basically a rip-off."

"A lot of powerful seals aiming at sealing powerful being inside a human host find their origins in the Shinigami seal, directly or indirectly. It...inspired many jutsu, sometimes they ended up being forbidden ones." I looked at Okuni-san in wonder.

"Like what?" He sighed deeply and stopped walking in the middle of the street, Hyo still following close behind like a shadow. Min was helping Sasuke with the investigation.

"Like that jutsu the Nidaime Hokage invented. The...Edo Tensei I believe? He was obsessed with the Death Reaper Seal, after Umiko-san passed away he investigated it until it had no secret for him. He...he really despised what the Claw would do to her and..."

"And he replicated the Claw's ability to summon the souls trapped in the seal," I finished for him.

"Except that they are just reanimated beings and can be controlled. You...you can't control them, if one day you summon them, their presences will only depend on your stamina." I nodded thoughtfully and a voice yelled at us to stop. We all turned around the see Min running toward us. She stopped, breathing hard, her hands on her knees.

"Sa...Sasuke-san and...and Wataru-nim...found the culprit."

It did not take long to join them, and I was taken back at the display in the room we were in when we met Okuni-san and Wataru-san. There was a man, with some Uchiha features, on his knees, wit a right eye so swollen and purple he probably couldn't see anymore. His hands were tied in his back and next to him was Taiga, arms crossed over his chest and looking down at the guy. My eyes lingered on him and his demeanor for a second until Sasuke walked next to me with a frown.

"We found his fingerprints on the weapon, Taiga arrested him," Sasuke told me quietly.

"I thought they were not fighters," I replied with a sneer. Sasuke gauged the state of the 'culprit'.

"I know, I was surprised too."

"I'm innocent!" I stared blankly at the man. "I...I don't even have the Sharingan!" Taiga smacked him so hard he fell on the ground with a whimper.

"His seal is gone," Taiga stated. "Curiosity pushed him to explore a place he shouldn't have been to."

"Do you have more proofs?" I asked them. Wataru-san shot me a look.

"Taiga looked in his memories and saw him attacking you two." Right, that Taiga was trusted but…

I didn't blink when blood spurted from the man's throat, Taiga's knife now bloody.

"Leaving the country for the Elemental Nation without permission is a crime, and attacking people there is equal to the death penalty," Okuni-san told me quietly. Two guys took the body away, leaving a puddle of blood behind.

"Now this problem is solved, you can go home with an easy mind," the Uchiha leader added with a somber expression, probably due to the fact he had lost someone.

He was wrong though, I was sure of it. An innocent had just been killed.

"There is a party tomorrow night though, you are welcomed if you want to come." I nodded at Okuni-san.

"I think it could be nice to relax after everything." With this, Sasuke and I went to our room. I slumped on the bed as Sasuke sat on the fuuton on the floor. "Damn…"

"You accepted to get the real culprit to reveal himself, didn't you?" I stared thoughtfully at the scarlet sheet of the bed.

"We came here to investigate and it cost an innocent man his life. We're getting to the bottom of this." From the glint in his dark eyes, I knew he agreed totally with my decision.

* * *

"It will be harder for you to train the Claw once you're gone," Hyo told me as I was sipping on my water. I was wearing a black sleeveless dress with a cleavage in 'V', it was fitted at my waist and pooled down at my ankles without any particular shape. The hills I was wearing were more comfortable I was expecting them to be and I had no bandages around my arm. Everybody knew about it anyway, why bother hiding it?

"Okuni-san mentioned giving me things to help me."

"Oh, I..." He started to snicker and I followed his gaze, smirking at Sasuke's angry face and Min's embarrassed one, caused by her baby pink dress probably.

"Why can't I wear black like Akane-san?" she muttered once they were next to us. I took the plate of food from Sasuke's hands and ignored his glare. He lost a bet, he had to follow the 'do everything I ask you to for a day' rule that followed.

"Because! It's Cholloma Day, deal with it Min!"

"Hear that Sasuke? Deal with it." The Uchiha glared harder at me.

In two months, he had the time to get to know Min better and got along with her well, actually helping her with her sharingan, just like I got along with Hyo. They were the two designated persons to keep us company anyway

"Overall, how is your training going Akane-san?" I looked down at Min.

"Well, I can keep up the Claw but it's draining. I'm an Uzumaki and it's extremely chakra draining for me."

"That's why non Uzumaki people who use the technique fail." I shot a look at Hyo, who had raised a finger in front of him to pretend he was a teacher and us the students. "Only an Uzumaki, with their longevity and powerful chakra, can handle making a pact with the Shinigami. Only these two things can fight back the Shinigami's influence over the body and keep it stable."

"You need to get your nose out of these books," I told him in a scolding tone. He looked briefly panicked for a second, and when he saw my teasing smirk, he sighed and placed a hand over his heart.

"You're mean, Yureis are as respected as the Uzukage, don't overuse that power." I chuckled behind my glass.

It was just a party to celebrate the national holiday. It was in a part of town I was not used to, there were a lot of people chatting, but I was still keeping an eye on Taiga. So far, he was acting pretty normal, but I…

Damn it, there was just something off with that guy, Shisui's brother or not! For all I knew, he could be the guy we were looking fo…

My lips parted in a silent 'oh'. What if he was the culprit, what if he...what if he was the guy I sealed before I died?

But he was Shisui's brother.

I...he was Shisui's brother, I couldn't just accuse him like that, could I?

There was nothing strange for, I'd say, an hour maybe, until I caught a glimpse of him leaving the place. I exchanged a quick glance with Sasuke and made him understand I would follow him and that he needed to stay here because otherwise it would look suspicious.

And follow him I did. Through the crowded street bathed in the beam of the setting sun to the red amaranths under the moonlight. My attire was not making my task easy, but I was managing it.

The hairs on my arm stood on end when he went to what appeared to be a cave hidden behind the foliage of a tree at the end of the field of amaranths. Alright, I now had two option. Go back and talk to Sasuke, or follow Taiga in what was obviously the lion's den, just asking to be eaten like a sacrificial virgin. If I went back to Sasuke though, this chance of discovering what Taiga was up to would vanish in the blink of an eye!

With a deep breath, I went in the cave. Sasuke would kill me later on.

I wrinkled my nose at the heavy smell of humidity in the air. The rocky walls around me were bumpy and damp, where some climbing plants had decided to settle down. I looked in disgust at a millipede going back to the darkness of a hole in the wall. The ground started to go down steeply and I had to use the wall to stay up, some rocks at my feet breaking under my heels.

After a long while walking in the dark, I walked in a vast room, if I could call it like that. There was dust in the air and we were clearly underground. My eyes traveled along a piece of wood, that revealed to be a part of a huge dry root, itself connected to other roots and to what was seemingly the beginning on an old tree. It did not go up to the ceiling and I gulped.

It was the God Tree.

It was that God Tree that gave Kaguya her chakra fruit. At least, what still remained of it a thousand years after the events. It clearly was not just a tree.

Oh, there was a table under the root when said root was a few meters above the ground. I ran to it and rummaged through the papers scattered on it. One caught my attention though. I grabbed it and squinted to read the words on it.

'Trap…' I knew that much and it was not reassuring how it was written on a piece of paper. 'Chakra free zone woman.'

I blinked.

Chakra free zone?

I try to use some to check, but found I couldn't.

Oh cr…

"On a scale of one to ten, how much did you feel the trap coming _Yurei-sama_?" I couldn't respond to the snarky question. I just had the time to turn around before I was violently hit in the face. I spat blood and fell, my head hitting the table.

Then, I totally blacked out.

* * *

I came back to my senses with a moan of pain. My head was hurting me so much I wanted to black out again. I blinked several times, trying to see something, and tried to move. I found myself unable to do so as I was tied up on the ground, my wrists and ankles stuck together in my back.

"You know, I have to admit you're kind of cute, I'm sure Shisui isn't indifferent to you. Too bad you had to be the prey." I glared at Taiga, leaning against a giant root in front of me.

"What's your evil plan then?" He tilted his head on the side.

"Evil plan? I'm not evil."

"Yeah? Then...then why did you kill that guy to save your ass?"

"Because I don't want to be exiled," he replied in a deadpanned voice. "If anything, you're more evil than me. You've had your doubts about me ever since you saw me, I know that. However, you didn't say a word about it. I was wondering why at first, but then the reason was clear to me. I'm Shisui's brother, you're friends with him, so you didn't want to accuse me." He walked up to me and I bit the inside of my cheek at how right he was. "You could have avoided his death and your pathetic situation right now, but here we are. I thought I had broken your back at the harbor, I guess I should have hit harder after all."

"If you're not evil as you say, then what do you want?"

"Me? I just don't want to go blind, that's all."

"Wh..."

"I mean, to get out alive of the war, I used the Izanagi and lost an eye. The other is losing its light because of the Mangekyou and I still want the Sharingan. The thing is, nobody has it here except for Min, and she most probably won't awaken the Mangekyou so..."

"You won't have the Eternal Mangekyou unless you get Shisui's eyes you moron."

"Who said anything about that?" I frowned. "I want the Sharingan and the Mangekyou, that's all. It's incredible what these roots turned into dust and ingested can do to you. I stopped losing my sight, but I want new eyes. When I heard rumors about an Uchiha in Kiri when I was on Sen'i, I couldn't believe it." I swallowed back the lump in my throat.

"You want Sasuke to awaken the Mangekyou," I whispered quietly. He grinned at me like a mad man.

"Yeah, too bad for you you're the sacrifice needed for this." He went to the table as dread filled me. I was powerless and defenseless, I couldn't use chakra at all and physically speaking, he was stronger than me. "Then, they started to investigate because of the knife. One genjutsu later, that guy was accused and Wataru believed me without the shadow of a doubt. Wanna know why? It's because they're not shinobi and give their trust way too easily. I should feel guilty to do that you know, I mean they welcomed me when I arrived, completely lost and starved, but I don't! Once a shinobi, always a shinobi." He went back to me, crouched next to me and grabbed my face between his fingers, pressing hard on my cheeks which made me pout. "Just know it's not personal, toward you or Fugaku-sama's youngest. It will be quick and painless."

He let go of my face and I grunted.

Damn it.

"How do you expect Sasuke to come here by the way?"

"Because like you, I don't act alone?" He really was treating me like an idiot, wasn't he?

I needed to get out of here alive, but Sasuke...if he came then…

I started to fidget harder to break free from my ties, but I only felt pain in my shoulders by doing so. It was too tight.

My brain working as fast as it could, I tried to find something, anything really, to get me out of this situation.

There was nothing. Nothing except roots and dirt. No sharp object was in my sight. Against my will, my stomach starting aching because of the fear crawling up inside of me. I really couldn't use chakra.

I was not going to die, right? I mean...I still had stuff to do, so I would not die, right?

I think I lost track of time in my internal wailing because one moment there was no sound, Taiga just waiting, and the next there was a shadow in front of the entrance.

"I almost waited."

"I'm right on time, ain't I?" Sasuke's cold voice replied. I was a bad influence, my sarcasm was a bad influence. "Using a traumatized and terrified thirteen year-old is pretty low."

Min then?

In what kind of mess did we get into?

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to NguyetMieu, DominoDuh and kankananime123 for the reviews! No, there is no other clan.**

 **Bye!**


	66. Eastern Continent Arc: Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes or any OCCness.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 20**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 15**

 **Shisui: 24**

 **Kakashi: 29**

* * *

"She's taking a while," Hyo noticed with a frown. Sasuke hummed in agreement. Akane was taking too long.

"Sasuke-san, we should go looking for her."

"Righ..."

"Not you Hyo," Min cut him off, nervously Sasuke noted. "I mean...if she comes back, you can explain where we are."

"Oh...sure, go then."

Sasuke followed the younger girl with suspicion. She knew where she was going and did not know how to hide it. They were not shinobi around here except for Taiga and the oldest Uzumakis, and Min was no exception. She did not know how to trick someone.

As they reached the field of red amaranths, Sasuke smirked to himself. From behind, he could spot all traces of doubt, nervousness and fear coming from Min. She was leading him straight in a trap where Akane was most likely in already, but she did not want to do it.

"What does Taiga have on you to make you take me to the trap Akane is already in?" The young girl froze in front of the entrance of a cave. Under the moon, the pink of her dress was like washed out of its color and looked like a dull gray.

"Tr...trap? I don't...see what you're talking ab...about." She turned to face him with fake confidence on her face.

"Do you think the lies of a frightened little girl can fool me?" he asked her rhetorically. Taking a few steps forward, he was satisfied to see her step back with scared eyes. "However, I know you're scared and don't want to do what you're doing. What does he have on you?"

"No...noth..."

"I'm curious too." The two Uchihas turned their eyes to the red-haired man coming their way with a serious face. "Sorry, I know I was supposed to stay behind but...well, I just didn't. Min, tell me, is Taiga the reason you hijacked your seal and awakened the Sharingan?"

"During an extremely emotional moment, chakra is sent to your eyes and awakens the Sharingan, the seal you all have here is supposed to block it. But seals can be broken if the chakra within it is weaker than the one trying to break it," Sasuke recited. "How did you awaken yours?"

"When her parents died, but the question is how did they truly die?"

"He said it was an accident!" she suddenly cried out with shaking legs. "He...He said it was an accident and that he'd help me with my eyes!"

"Min, from the beginning please," Hyo asked her sternly, "I'm afraid we don't have a lot of time." Min pinched her lips together and nodded.

"I don't know why exactly, but one day he came at home and fought with Dad, saying Dad couldn't tell what he was doing with the old tree to Wataru-nim. Dad tried to reason him and told him it was bad for him and that the seal was there for a reason, but Taiga didn't listen and pushed him. Dad's head hit the wall violently and started bleeding, Mom came but Taiga he…he said he panicked when Mom went to Dad and he knocked her on the head with a bottle. I...I was in my room and saw...saw it..."

"And ever since he made you shut up about it," Hyo finished with a grunt. "That asshole!"

"Accident or not, he murdered two people and has to be judged for this. What is he doing here? Do you know?"

"I...he's going blind because of the Sharingan in his remaining eye and he found something with the roots that slows the blindness down."

"He has the Mangekyou then," Sasuke whispered with a frown.

Then, with how people here had their eyes sealed, and with Min being from here, Taiga could have wanted a new pair of eyes. Akane had told him the person was spying on him.

Taiga wanted new eyes, but with the Mangekyou. Not necessarily the Eternal Mangekyou, because if he had found something to counter the blindness...it would not be a bother.

Sasuke took a deep breath and looked at the moon. He was the target. Taiga wanted him to awaken the Mangekyou and then steal it from him. Neither him or Akane would be a loss on this continent.

And now, here they were.

"Neither Min or I are fighters Sasuke," Hyo told him with urgency in his voice, "but there is a seal down there."

"You know its purpose?"

"Yeah, I read about it. As it is the roots of the God Tree from a millennium ago, although dead now, they're still harmful to basically everything as they actually drain chakra from anything nearby. It's not...immediate, but progressive, that's why nothing grows around it. People...it started to harm them too, so a seal was placed to stop it."

"It contains the hunger of the roots." Sasuke frowned at Hyo shaking his head.

"Nope, it blocks chakra from being used within a certain radius. You go there and...and you're regular. From what I understood, they never succeeded in creating a seal able to contain the roots hunger."

"It explains why Akane isn't here then," Sasuke muttered, frustrated, "that idiot realized it too late."

"So, what do we do?"

"You find another way in, another exit for us. I'll take care of him."

On this, he ran in the cave.

* * *

"I heard you wanted my eyes."

"It's true."

"Sasuke, you can't use your chakra here!"

"I know," he replied without averting his eyes from Taiga. "You don't seem like you can help a lot." Aouch, my dignity. "So, using Min's fear to make her obey you?" Wh…

"Huh, she talked then."

Sasuke raised his arm and threw something at me. I blinked and quickly turned around to grab the kunai.

"Unlike her I came prepared." He was having a dig at me, wasn't he?

I heard them clashing with each other whereas I was cutting the rope as fast as I could. I sighed in relief when my ankles were separated from my wrists and proceeded to free my hands. Once that was done, I cut the rope between my ankles and rubbed my painful joints.

Sasuke slid in front of me in a puff of dust, his katana dug in the earth.

"There's a seal, find a way to break it," he ordered me quietly and I found myself arguing with him.

"We should run away!"

"That guy killed you before and committed other crimes, break the seal!" I didn't argue this time. I got up, stumbled a little, and left them at their fight.

I tried to block the sound of fighting off, running and looking for the seal. Sasuke didn't even say what it did, but from the place, I guess it had something to do with the tree. Usually, for a seal to be the most useful, it needs to be placed strategically...so the center maybe?

I tried to jump on a root and barely touched the bottom of it. I sighed and ran along it to climb on it when it touched the ground. Crap, we shinobi really were dependent on chakra, weren't we? I took off my shoes and had to go slowly to keep me balanced. I dived in front of me and almost fell when a shuriken flew above me. Deciding no to get up, I crawled along the root and congratulated myself once I reached the center. There was a huge seal indeed.

Carefully, I slid along the wood to be next to my goal.

Now, how to break a seal if I could not use chakra?

" **The Claw.** "

" _What?_ "

" **The Claw. It can go through the seal of a jinchuriki. It is the energy of the Shinigami, I doubt there is only chakra in it. Maybe you can use it to break the seal. It's worth a shot.** "

" _But I..._ "

" **Akane, now isn't the time to doubt yourself or argue.** "

I gulped loudly, a drop of cold sweat running from my scalp down my back.

Come on Akane, you could at least try.

I took a deep, deep breath and focused like I did in training. As Minato said, I felt my left arm warming up and soon I felt the cold power of the Shinigami around it. As strange as it was, I was welcoming now. It was like a reminder of my old life.

I plunged my fingers in the seal and blinked when they grabbed the symbols like it was a paper, crumbling them in the process. I raised my hand, the symbols following it like it was a sheet and I clenched my hand harder. Cracks appeared and the seal in my hand broke apart. I was startled by the sudden return of my chakra but didn't stop the Claw.

Now I could use chakra, I could feel...something from that old piece of wood.

This shit was bad.

As I dug the Claw deeply in the dead wood, I turned my head on the side at Sasuke's grunt of pain. I couldn't see well from where I was, but he was clenching the base of the side of his neck.

No time for that. Much like the first time I used the Claw, my instinct kicked in and I pushed the energy of the Shinigami in the wood. Purple light started to come out of the cracks in it and soon, it collapsed. Hopefully, I landed on my feet with no problem.

I skirted pieces of wood. I knew it was Shisui's older brother, I knew he still cared about what happened to him but...but my eyes were not deceiving me. The light Sasuke's Chidori made clearly made me see the blood staining his jacket and collar.

I knew he was Shisui's brother, but I had let that fact clouding my judgment for too long. Sasuke was way more important than Taiga, who was nothing more than a secondary character.

"Get his eye!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

Sasuke lunged at him, the lightnings shining brightly in his hand.

What happened after was a blur. One moment I was watching Sasuke running at Taiga on solid ground, the next moment said ground started to move under my feet and I was thrown between them. The earth wrapped itself solidly around my legs. I did not have the time to try to get out of it that the blinding light in Sasuke's hand, and his wide red eyes filled with horror, probably like mine, was right in front of me.

I could not see a thing for a solid second, and no sound could be heard. Not even the chirping like sound of the Chidori.

Then, I threw up blood. An excruciating pain erupted in my right side and I could vaguely feel my dress getting heavier and wetter.

"God no..." I heard Sasuke whispered weakly. Taiga bust into laughter behind me, or I thought so.

My ears only heard buzzing. My legs gave up under my weight and I almost hit the ground, as Sasuke caught me just before. This situation was painfully familiar, the opponent, the dead one…

This time though, Sasuke was crying.

"Nee-san!" Blood really tasted like iron.

I didn't want to die now.

I didn't but...but how could I survive Sasuke's Chidori exactly? My organs were...destroyed…

I tried to focus on Sasuke's face, but apart from tears falling on my face I couldn't...I…

I…

Cold...I was...cold...sleepy.

He shook me but my body was…

My body was shutting down.

* * *

"Like I told her before," Taiga started behind Sasuke, who put Akane on the ground, "it's really not personal. You just happened to be there Sasuke." The black oval in his eye turned back to three tomoe. "Even though, she destroyed the cure to my blindness so I'm not going to cry her death."

He stopped talking when the mark in Sasuke's neck started to spread and his skin turned gray. Instinctively, he took a step back when the youngest stood up and turned his head to him, enough for Taiga to see a different pattern in his eye. Instead of the usual three tomoe, the pattern was now three intersecting red ellipses.

He looked around him when black flames appeared around him. Slowly, much like a predator walking toward their prey, Sasuke inched toward him, the black flames opening when he walked in the circle of black fire. Blood had poured from his right eye to his jaw.

Behind him, Hyo and Min had arrived and were staring at Akane's body with wide eyes.

"You two," Sasuke said coldly, "move her body away."

Whereas Min was shaking like a leaf, Hyo gulped and scooped the warm body in his arms. They ran away to the surface through their new exit, and just as they reached the outside, the ground shook behind them.

"Okay, okay..." Hyo muttered as he put Akane on the ground. "Okay, she's still warm, Min start the chest compression."

"For what? She's dead!"

"Do as I say!" The Uzumaki replied harshly, taking a paper from his pocket. From it, he unsealed multiple seals and medical equipment. "I can't believe Okuni-sama was right."

"Wh..."

"Chest compression! There are roughly five to six minutes after the death for..."

"Not with that kind of wound! Half of her intestines are destroyed!"

"Not for long."

Following the instructions he had, he placed five seals around the hole in her abdomen. Even if they were not shinobi, they had not stopped their fuinjutsu, they just focused on other subjects.

The medical field was an excellent example of that.

Activating the seal, Hyo was glad to see the blood stopping and the wound like frozen in time. Then, taking two other seals, bigger and more complex, he put them on the edge of the torn flesh. Blue chakra started to cover the organs and linked the pieces together. The Uzumaki widened his eyes when the flesh just started to grow back, the intestines slowly but surely reforming themselves.

"What's going on?"

"Progress." Hyo looked up at the old man who knelt next to them, staring at the pale face of the woman. "The syringe, in her heart."

Was it blood in the tube? They did not have the time to wonder about that that the young Uzumaki stuck the needle in her chest, pushing the liquid in her heart. There was nothing for a couple of second and Min jumped at the weak beating of her heart. The body arched its back and opened the mouth, enough for the Uzukage to place his hand between the teeth.

Min and Hyo watched with a morbid fascination as the teeth sunk into the flesh and blood trickled down the chin and onto the throat. The most fascinating was how the throat was moving from the blood ingested. Green chakra surrounded the body and the seals burned, the flesh growing back and leaving a whitish spot.

Okuni removed his hand and the body took a deep breath.

"Wait...Akane-san?" Min called her, but with no response. "She...she was dead, I know she was!"

"Uzumaki's longevity..." Hyo whispered. "I mean...it probably wouldn't have worked for someone else but...she was dead. We had the good things to bring her back and...Okuni-sama!"

"I'm...fine..." the old man replied before coughing, laying on the ground. "I knew it...would happen...I lived long enough. Show her...when she wakes up..."

"Ok...Okuni-sama!" Tears running down his cheeks, Hyo stared at the smile on the old man's face. He wiped his tears away and ignored the girl's watery eyes in front of him. "Okay...we need to bring her to the hospital. She was dead for five minutes, we need to..."

"I'll seal the body." They both turned to Sasuke. His clothes were bloody and his eyes were back to their charcoal color. However, the blood dripping from his closed fist froze them both.

"What...what's in your fist?" Sasuke looked at him for a second and opened his hand, showing them an eyeball.

"She said to get his eye, for Shisui probably. Too bad it's only one." Closing his fist at the disgust on their faces, he walked closer to them. He stopped and widened his eyes at Akane's stomach rising with her breathing. "What?"

"We...we managed to bring her back," Min told him in a trembling voice. Sasuke's eyes turned to her in a second, and seeing the young girl was not lying, he dropped on his knees.

"Thank...thank God...how did you..."

"We...Okuni-sama had planned everything." Sasuke wanted to ask Hyo what he meant, but at the sight of the old man behind him, immobile, he changed his mind.

They came to investigate and brought only death with them, to people who so far had lived peacefully.

It truly was the only thing shinobi brought with them everywhere. Death and pain.

"What...where is Taiga?"

"Wataru-san arrived from nowhere before I could kill him." Sasuke ignored the shock in their eyes at how casual he sounded.

But it was his job, his career, wasn't it? Killing people was what he was trained to do.

He turned it too often toward his loved ones too.

"Let...Let's go..." Hyo barely finished his sentence that voices calling for them started to be heard. At that, he screamed and Min broke down into tears from the stress of the situation.

Mechanically, Sasuke grabbed a random seal on the ground and, with his blood, modified it to turn it into a storage seal, in which he sealed the eye. He put it in his pocket and then, fell harshly on the ground, unconscious.

* * *

So...it was depressing. Everything was in shades of gray. There was something pulling me in front of me, like a magnet, and I knew perfectly well what it was. If I let myself go this direction, I would be face to face with the Shinigami and boom, no Akane anymore, just a corpse and a forever tormented soul.

I ran the other way, through dead trees with no idea of where I was or where I was going. I knew it was far from the Shinigami though.

I couldn't die just now!

I refused to acknowledge that!

As my legs, heavy and hard to move, were moving too slow for my taste, I thought about everything I knew about Yureis. Tensui-san...mentioned that, that thanks to the Claw, I could...during times of...of death-like situation I could...meet my watching soul.

It was Itachi. I mean, old Itachi. The one I dated for three years.

To be honest, I never thought it would happen. Well, I never thought I would...was I actually dead by the way?

I wasn't sure if I wanted to see... _him_. Too much baggage, and he saw everything that happened these past seven years. For instance, he knew what I had to do in the Bloody Mist, or my breakdowns...oh God, he knew about Shisui and...he probably saw us kissing too.

He probably knew very well I would have continued in Konoha!

Technically, he was my ex, wasn't he? So...it was none of his business who I kissed. Well, it was not as if Itachi, no matter the version I think from Sasuke's behavior toward it, gave a damn about whether or not it was his business when it came to my love life. He used to sum it up after all, and apparently it gave him the right to criticize any guys who would show an interest in me. I used to find it cute, but thinking back on it...there were times where he was just completely ridiculous. It was low to criticize a guy who was slightly shorter than me about his height.

Hey, old Itachi could really be an asshole when he was jealous. I really hope Itachi would never have feelings for me, I would not handle his jealousy. I'd probably slap him or worst, punch him before telling him to fuck off.

Anyway, I had to find a way out and not die for good.

I needed him after all, or at least his brain.

"Itachi!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I was taken back at how loud it was. "Itachi I know you're around so show up or I'll...do something bad to you!"

"If you stopped running for a second it would be easier to think about the situation you're in."

I widened my eyes and tripped on my feet, falling flat on my facing in shock of hearing...this voice again. It…

Tensui-san told me but…

It...was it really…

I raised my eyes when I heard feet stopping in front of my face. In other circumstances, I would have commented on the nail polish on the toes, but instead, my arm was gently grabbed and I was pulled onto my feet. Even now standing, I couldn't bring myself to look up.

"You need to leave," he continued sternly, not an ounce of feeling or emotion in his smooth voice. He started to walk, my arm still in his grip and I kept staring at the ground.

Finally, we came to a stop. There was a hole in the ground, the bottom hidden by the darkness in it.

"Your heart started beating again," Itachi told me, "you have to..."

"I can't leave Sasuke alone like that," I cut him off sharply. Strangely enough, I didn't want to cry. I just…

I just wanted to live.

I started to lift my leg to fall in the hole but the grip on my arm tightened briefly.

"Can't you just look at me for a second Akane?" Now there was a tint of sadness in his voice. I turned my head to shot him a quick look and clenched my jaw.

This face...this face had been so cold during our last encounter.

I spun around and punched him in the cheek in the blink of an eye. He fell on his ass, his face facing the ground.

"You used the Mangekyou on me," I accused him coldly.

"I did." He...I was just getting angry at him. Not sad, just angry.

"You could have avoided that blow."

"I could have," he admitted quietly, "I deserved it."

"At least we agree on that," I spat bitterly. He got up without a word and our eyes met. "I died a second time, I can't stay here too long before coming back to life, it's my thing now."

"I know." I took a step back, my hill in nothing, and Itachi took a step forward. I could see he wanted to say a lot of things, but I didn't want to hear them.

"If I ever die again, maybe we'll have more time but for now...I have to go."

He nodded and slowly, raised his hand. I raised a brow and froze when two fingers poked my forehead. I blinked in confusion and bit te inside of my cheek when I saw his smile. It was sad, just...sad, and heartbroken.

"I have faith in you," he whispered to me, his hand sliding from my cheek to my chest, "always have."

He pushed me and I fell.

I didn't reach out for him.

For the first time...I was the one to leave him behind.

It didn't feel any better than being left behind.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to NguyetMieu for the review! **

**Bye!**


	67. Eastern Continent Arc: Final

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes or any OCCness.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 20**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 15**

 **Shisui: 24**

 **Kakashi: 29**

* * *

" _Too hot, too hot," I whined, laying in the grass in my black one piece swimsuit. Sasuke and Naruto were playing in the pound in front of us, Itachi having just arrived. Shisui was nowhere to be seen, probably on a mission knowing the situation between Konoha and Kiri._

" _Why don't you go in the water then?" I pouted. "You're not scared of water anymore."_

" _Still, even if I'm comfortable in water, I'm still scared of drowning." He raised a brow. "Alright, laugh if you want to."_

" _I won't, it's a logical fear. After all, nobody wants to struggle under water for oxygen but fail and feel water filling your lungs, which then drags you down while you're watching the surface disappear." During his monologue, I paled drastically. The worst was he kept a straight face all along._

" _Thanks for the description." He smirked, fucking smirked smugly at me. I glared at him briefly before turning my head away from him. He chuckled briefly and stood up. He grabbed my hand and pulled me on my feet. Oh, he was just in his swimming trunks now._

 _And...still nothing. He was still a kid._

" _You can swim, right?"_

" _I can swim just fine," I muttered as we reached the water, my hand still in his._

" _If you don't feel good, I'm right here." He let go of my hand when the water reached my knees, Sasuke having monopolized his brother's attention. But, the kid was ten today, so it was his special day. However, it was funny, how a second ago Itachi had seemed to reliable when...whatever._

 _I slowly turned my eyes to the side when I was splashed with water. Naruto's toothy grin was all I needed to start a war with him._

I slowly opened my eyes, the soft light coming through the blind being enough to pull me out of my slumber. I looked around me and did not recognize my surroundings. I tried to sit up but a sharp pain in my right side put me back in bed.

Okay...what was the last thing I remembered? The party, then the cave...Sasuke came and the tree destroyed…

"Nee-san?" I shot a tired gaze toward the corner of the room, where a figure was standing. Once out of the shadows, I sighed in relief when I saw it was just Sasuke.

He looked terrible though. Even if he was keeping up the appearances like the good Uchiha he was raised to be, his dark circles and messy hair clearly indicated a lack of sleep. Sasuke sat next to me, his empty eyes never leaving me.

"Did...was I touched by your chidori?" He nodded dully, guilt flashing through in dark eyes. "Did I...die?"

"Five minutes and thirty-seven seconds." I sighed.

"Someone really wants me to stay alive." He did not laugh, just look down at his hands on his thighs. "Hey, I wasn't the target, it was Taiga's doing." As a response, his eyes turned red, but with a pattern I had not seen in years, although slightly different. I was at a loss of words because of what it meant to Sasuke. "Oh." I sat up, ignoring the pain in my body.

"Yes, 'oh'." I pursed my lips and after an uncomfortable silence, I gestured him to move closer. He looked away, but realizing I was staring at him expectantly, he sat next to me on the bed. Quickly, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled his face in the crook of my neck.

"Look, it's alright and normal you feel guilty, I'd be worried if you didn't. But, I'm alive, so keep that in mind."

"I know," he mumbled and it broke my heart how guilty he sounded, "but it's...it's not the first time."

"I don't think Naruto resent you that much knowing you didn't reach Orochimaru."

"There was Sakura too..." I blinked at that. "Kakashi stopped us before but...neither Naruto nor I could stop our attacks or deviate them. It's...I keep doing that!" He was frustrated, angry, but at himself.

"Then get better." He moved back, taken back at my words. "I mean, I don't know what else to tell you except getting better to be totally in control. That Taiga, is he dead?"

"No," he answered in a slow voice. He shook his head. "Wataru-san arrived and took him away, he's in jail."

"He was here?"

"Okuni-san too."

"Okay...does he know how I was brought ba..." I didn't finish my question as his gaze was enough. I clenched my fists on the sheet. "I see."

"Hyo left papers about the seals used in the nightstand." I nodded. He was dead, he died and I...We caused a tragedy by coming, by confronting the same guy I died against before. There was peace and…

Fuck.

It was the only word I could think of for the situation. Holy fuck.

"Do you know what's going to happen to him?"

"He's not much of a threat anymore with no eye and seals keeping him from moving a finger."

"You succeeded in getting his eye?" He nodded.

"Yes, I first sealed it away with a stasis seal, but when I arrived they took it to...make sure it would be conserved perfectly."

"They let you do that? Oh wait, knowing you're Fugaku-san's son, even the second one, and that Taiga is originally from Konoha, then it's actually you who decide of his punishment."

"This is why I still have the eye and I checked if it was the real one. I'm keeping it and giving it to Shisui when we're in Konoha." I stared blankly at him. "I...I don't know if I should kill him or let him rot for his crimes in jail here."

"Do you have all of the facts? Was he acting on his own without any influences?"

"He has been taking the powder he made from the roots of the tree to stop the blindness and apparently in the past, it had bad effects on people. It's why there was a seal to begin with, to keep people from emanating and using chakra. It would just be drained and cause irreversible effects."

"Yeah, I felt it the...energy..." I murmured, gazing at my left arm. "It's why I've destroyed it. Knowing what it is, it was...not possible to let it be." Sasuke didn't say or do anything, he just stared at me. "What?"

"It must have been stressful to change things in your condition, my clan's troubles...even if it's linked, it's..."

"Almost a detail compared to what is awaiting for us? Yeah...I guess it kind of is, like Yagura's case was, but we need to change the big small things before taking care of your ancestor." I chuckled, which earned me a puzzled look. "Sorry, but the real shit will start when the Akatsuki starts moving...let's enjoy for now."

"You died imbecile."

"And yet I'm here." He sighed.

"You're the worst nee-san." I gaped at him.

"It's Itachi's thing to say I'm the worst! He won't be happy when I tell him you stole his catchphrase."

"Something tells me he won't be happy if I tell him you died for five minutes either." I hunched my shoulders. It was low.

"Not a word then?"

"Deal. So, what do you think I should do, with Taiga? He killed you before and..."

"I don't know Sasuke, it's up to you. We have his eye, it's all I care about." I opened the nightstand and grabbed the papers. "Maybe there's a good side to that situation. Even if you're not the heir, you're still important, and Itachi, even if he'll be the one taking decision, won't be able to ignore your voice. Well, it's Itachi so he wouldn't anyway. Think about what he did before he came here, after he came here, how long it has been, that root thing, what he wanted from us, and take a decision. Sorry, but on this one, I can't help you. It's Uchiha business, and you represent your dad."

He mused over that and stood up. I grabbed his wrist before he could turn to leave, leaving the 'joy' to see the bandages around his neck and upper torso.

"He took my katana and slashed me from the middle of my neck to my chest muscle, but nothing important was touched, not even the carotid. I'll have a scar." I see...from the left side of his neck to his right muscle chest. "The sword is broken by the way."

"We'll see that in Kiri, just...no other injuries?"

"No." On this, he left.

I took a deep breath and sighed. It was over, at least it was over.

I started to take a closer look at the papers. They were notes about seals, apparently the ones used on me…

Huh?

I brought a paper closer to my eyes, then another. These were...advanced, oh so advanced and incredible. I knew a lot of seals had been lost in the destruction of Uzushio, and Okuni-san being the last Uzukage, he knew a lot.

They first used a stasis seal especially done for deceased people to keep their bodies warm right after they died, and used it on my wounds, apparently my half destroyed intestines from what was written, to keep them from getting cold and unusable. Following this, they placed two powerful medical seals which fixed the tissue and flesh. Dai and Karin were trying to synthesize Karin's ability, but here? They pretty much did it. It...it was fascinating, how the lines were crossing each other to serve as guides to the chakra, how...how even if I could read them, I did not understand the medical terms used, except for how they were like extracting the vitality of the Uzumaki blood to the surface to activate it. Every Heal Bites users were Uzumakis, but not all Uzumakis could use it. This...this was like to activate it for ourselves only. During that time, they then injected me with Okinu-san's blood directly in my heart, getting my heart to beat again.

Finally, Okuni-san made me bite him and...and he died.

I would never be able to thank him for what he taught me then.

I needed to stay alive though. He thought I was important enough to die for and...I couldn't just forget that.

* * *

I knelt in front of the tombstone and ran my hand on it. Wataru-san was behind me and probably wanted to talk to me, but for now…

This man, the last Uzukage, had taught me a lot more than I could have ever learned in the Elemental Nations. I knew the bouquet of white flowers I put on his grave wouldn't be enough, but...but it was all I could do.

" **Kushina mentioned him once or twice. She wasn't wrong, he was a kind and considerate man.** " I couldn't agree more with oji-chan. He had been. I would never forget him.

I stood up, turned around and bowed in front of the Uchiha.

"I apologize for the troubles Sasuke and I have caused here. We won't come again and won't mention the presence of Uchihas and Uzumakis here."

"It would be appreciated," he admitted coldly and I stood up straight. "However, even if I do not want Sasuke here again, Okuni wanted you to know once your mission over, you could come here if you were not dead."

"When I retire," I summed up with surprise. "It's...thanks for the offer."

"No, I should be the one thanking you." I looked at him in wonder. "The trust I had placed in Taiga had blinded me on his actions. He's now where he should be, in prison for the rest of his life."

"So Sasuke spared him?" He nodded. He showed mercy, it was good to still be able to show mercy to people in our world. "I see, we will leave soon then."

"I will arrange your departure." Huh, he was in a hurry to see us leave.

I shot one last look at the grave and left the cemetery.

Before leaving, I went in town to buy souvenirs, Hyo being nice enough to trade my ryo with his money, the mun. I didn't buy incredible things, but I did, and got myself a necklace, a brown leather lace with an orange amber magatama as the pendant.

"Hey, it's been two months but it seemed like it had been much longer," Hyo told us as we were ready to get on the boat.

"An eternity," I added with a sigh. I looked at Min, who was trying to make herself invisible. I had been told of...the part she had played in all this. "Min, take care of yourself and do what seems right to you." She jumped and nodded. Sasuke took a step toward her, his hands in his pockets.

"Keep training your sharingan like I told you to." She brightened up a little at Sasuke.

"Of course!" Hyo smiled at them.

"You have the scroll?" he asked me. I showed him said scroll, a gift from the late Uzukage for the day I'd leave this country. Apparently, it was everything he knew about the Shinigami and the Death Reaper Seal. "Hey, can you do something for me?"

"What?" He inched closer so that his mouth was in front of my ear.

"Can you give me one of your kunai? You know, in case." I shot him a look. "Fine, maybe analyze the formula too." Well, it _was_ a long trip to get here so...I grabbed a marked kunai and gave it to him. "Cool, thanks Yur...Akane-sam...Akane?" My glare did work after all.

"It's nothing, we're family after all. With this, we should go, the boat will leave soon."

"Got it. Don't forget us!"

"No risk!" I replied, my smile mirroring his as Sasuke was already walking away. I waved at them one last time and ran to join Sasuke. "Okay, let's go home now, I want a long break. Dying sucks."

"You'd know about it." I punched him in the shoulder.

I couldn't wait to go back to Kiri. I missed the place and the familiarity of it, of our continent in general, and our lives. I wanted my surroundings back. The Eastern Continent was awesome, minus lost brothers turned crazy because of roots powder and dying, but I wanted to go home.

I needed to.

The trip to Sen'i was relatively quiet, and the one to Ryoushi was more noisy. However, once my feet touched the deck of the Ryoushi harbor, I took a deep breath.

"Come on, if we hurry we're in Kiri ton..."

"We should spend the night here," he interrupted me curtly, "it's not safe to travel back when we're tired from the trips. We know the way, but still."

"I can teleport us." He stared at me and I rolled my eyes, feeling like when I was talking Itachi into something and failing. Damn, I had never realized how similar they could act sometimes.

"Fine."

Booking a room was easy, I just had to show my hitai-ate. Sasuke was right, I barely crashed in my futon that I fell asleep.

In the middle of the night, I was woken up by muffled whining. I rubbed my eyes and first looked through the window. There was nothing except the clear night sky and the stars in it, keeping company to the moon.

I looked back and squinted to see in the darkness of the room. Sasuke was in the fuuton next to mine, but the more closely I was listening, the more I realized it was coming from him.

"Shit," I cursed under my breath, kneeling behind him. His face was buried in his pillow, but he was clenching it too hard because of the nightmare he was having. I shook him by the shoulder. "Sasuke, Sasuke wake up it's a nightmare." As he just whined harder, I shook him harder and he woke up in a start, sitting up in a flash.

"Dammit," he whispered with frustration. He started to calm his breathing down and I decided to push him back down, his head landing on my laps. "Nee-san?"

"Shush, right now I'll treat you like I treated my kids when they had a nightmare." He breathed out and ran his hand on his face, not moving an inch though.

"I'm not a kid."

"You just had a nightmare though. Wanna talk about it?" He kept silent for a while and I waited patiently. The one traumatizing thing I could think of that happened recently was my death and the role he played in it.

"I know you're alive," he ended up whispering, "but it...does it ever get better?" I smiled sadly at him.

"You learn to cope and live with it, but your actions will never really leave you." Even if he had that fight with Naruto, my cousin didn't die so...it was the first time Sasuke witnessed someone close to him passing away, even if it was brief. "Hush-a-bye, my little child, hush-a-bye, though winds blow wild; while the storms rage o'er the sea, you shall sleep in serenity. Hush-a-bye, hush-a-bye," I started singing softly, the lyrics of the lullaby Mom used to sing to Fubuki and I when we were kids, the lullaby I sang to my own children, coming back to me naturally. "Sea winds whistle a lullaby; hush-a-bye, hush-a-bye, sea winds whistle a lullaby. Child of fisherfolk by the shore, winds shall sing to you evermore; winter gale or summer breeze, fill your dreams with their melodies. Hush-a-bye, hush-a-bye, sea winds whisper a lullaby; hush-a-bye, hush-a-bye, sea winds whisper a lullaby." I smiled fondly at Sasuke's closed eyes.

"Do you miss them?" he asked me quietly.

"If I think of them, atrociously. I try to focus on this lifetime. Now, try to go back to sleep. I'm right next to you if you need me."

"I'll be fine now," he mumbled under his breath. I chuckled at him being his smug self once again.

"Sure. Good night." I went back to my futon to continue my night.

* * *

"Huh...hi?"

The first thing I did when I set a foot in Kiri was having a reunion with my bed. Right now, I had just woken up to Dai, who had thrown the covers away to examine me, sensei next to him. We shared a look, and only when I kicked my teammate in the face did we start talking.

"What the hell is going on with you two!?" Dai rubbed his face and bloody nose.

"Sasuke said you died!" This little…

"I'm still here, I'm fine!"

"So you did die," sensei said sternly. I raised my eyes to the ceiling.

"I mean...yes but...sensei!" I screamed when she embraced me so tightly I couldn't breath anymore. I glared at Dai enjoying my predicament.

"Well, you died so now take it like a man."

"I'm a woman..." I managed to say, just for sensei to hug me tighter when she heard me speak.

"Yeah, whatever, that's what you say."

Needless to say, when sensei finally let go of me and I got up, I was taken back by the crowd in my living-room. My team, Dai and sensei, Sasuke in a corner talking with senpai, Karin, Kimou and Naoto. Kimou almost choked me to death by hugging me,

"I didn't do it on purpose you know," I mumbled as Naoto hugged me. He sighed in my ear.

"I know, we're just glad you managed to not stay dead." I patted him on the back.

"You and me both brother."

After Haku scolding me for a good half an hour and me apologizing many, many times when he told me Isobu would not speak to me for now, Suigetsu snickering behind and Chōjūrō just watching the whole thing with an amused smile on his face, I grabbed Fubuki and fed him as he had just woken up from his nap. This baby was just adorable.

Dai forced me to do some exams to check my health, all of them showing I was perfectly fine. As Sasuke and I were on a break, I dived into some of the things I got from Okuni-san, one book being about the origins of the Shinigami.

Not the seal, the unearthly entity I had made a pact with.

It went back to even before Kaguya arrived on our planet, as it was myths and beliefs found on the Eastern Continent, they knew more about the era before the shinobi than us. Basically, the Shinigami is the God of Death, I already knew that, and is the God tasked to collect the souls of the deceased. Okuni-san's handwriting explained how it was an ancient entity and that chakra was only the link that connected us, but that the Shinigami itself did not really have chakra, just a godly power. The Yureis, although kind of revered by the Uzumaki clan for their 'sacrifice', ended up being its disciples in a way.

Huh, made sense. Its represents through the claw, its disciples, it was the same in the end.

I blinked when I found a familiar name on a page.

Jashin.

Even _before_ , old Kakashi had told me they never really found anything about this Jashin, or if he even existed, only that this Hidan would not die a regular death and that old Shikamaru had to incapacitate and trap him to terminate him. That, plus how apparently there had been some jashinists in the Land of Water like two years ago and how Dad…

Oh.

Dad did not like jashinists one bit and knew right away I was a Yurei.

Jashin was the God of Destruction and asked only this to its disciples, possibly granting them immortality if they proved themselves worthy of it. However, it was written the Shinigami and Jashin, even if a little bit alike, did not associate with each other. Whereas the Shinigami collected the souls after death, Jashin was causing death just for pleasure. The Shinigami was just...keeping the balance of Nature, of life and death.

Well...except for Jashin, there was not much new information, just more details. It was still something interesting to have. There was also information about old demons I barely looked at, my eyes briefly catching a glimpse of the name 'Mōryō'.

A week after we came back, and said week spent mainly sleeping, eating, reading my new documents and relaxing overall, sensei summoned me in her office.

"Heh...I though the monthly reports I made were enough," I said, reading the questions about Sasuke on the paper she gave me.

"It's an overall evaluation on his year and a half in Kiri. Once you're done with this, I'll have a proposition for you."

"What?"

"Questions first," she scolded me lightly. I grabbed the pencil next to me and started answering.

The evolution of his level...mindset...contribution to the village...views on the village...and then my personal views on Sasuke's improvement in general. Well, he had changed during the last eighteen months, that was for sure. Taking missions accordingly to his skills did him some good, and discovering the state of this country certainly helped him having a better understanding of our world.

Yeah, my report was pretty positive.

"So?" I asked sensei, giving her the paper back once it was completed.

"You've been doing good work since I've became the Mizukage, you even replaced me by the end of my pregnancy."

"Well yeah, against my will and with Ao-san's help. What's your point?" She took a letter from one of the drawer. I read it quickly. "Huh...what?"

"This is a letter signed by the Hokage, the stand-ins of the Kazekage as they have not found a successor yet, and myself. I want you to deliver this one, and two other similar ones, to Kumo, Iwa and Taki. Not as one of my shinobi though, as a Seal Master." I tilted my head with furrowed brows. "The threat of the Akatsuki will soon make itself known among the nations, the sooner we get the villages to cooperate, the better it will be."

"I doubt Iwa and Kumo would..."

"Then just let them know. As a Seal Master, the Hokage and myself would like you to find a way to reinforce the seals the jinchuriki have."

"Oh. It takes time sensei, each seal is different and even if a jinchuriki should be the one deciding whether or not I'm allowed to see their seal, they're still considered as a village property so...it's complicated."

"Hence why I'm relieving you of your duty as a kunoichi of Kiri until you go in Konoha to serve there." I slightly gaped at her. "I guess you could say you would be granted the same status Jiraya-sama has with Konoha. I know you had to leave people behind for us Akane, so focus on them. It's my order."

"Then Sas..."

"He can go with you just like he can go home. The Hokage specified to me you had an arrangement with his father. If you take him with you, he's utterly under your responsibility though."

"Yeah...yeah I kinda have understood this. It's just..." I was speechless at the offer. "I wasn't expecting this. I mean, with senpai and Haku..."

"Haku works perfectly fine with the Sanbi, and Utakata is getting there too. I think they can train without your supervision," she assured me with a smile.

"Sure but..."

"Did your brain stop functioning properly?"

"A little bit," I admitted. I took a deep breath and shook my head. "Okay, so go in the hidden villages which have a jinchuriki and give them your letter?"

"To the Kage, in person." A nervous smile flourished on my lips.

"You want me to see the Raikage? Do you want me to die? Because I just did, it wasn't that cool."

"I can imagine, and what did I say about joking about this subject?"

"Not to do it because it was insensitive toward people who cares about me," I grumbled as I rolled my eyes, "but it's my way of coping with it, and remind everyone I'm still breathing. I'm careful not to say it around Sasuke for now. Anyway, okay, I'll do it and take Sasuke with me if he wants to. Unless Haku doesn't want me to go, I'll stay here then."

"I can give you two days." I nodded, thanked her and left.

I bought takoyaki at the old man's restaurant, enough for me and my two lovely roommates, and walked home.

"I'm home," I drawled when I opened the door. Haku was in the living-room, laying in the couch with a book in his hands, and a quick sensing told me Sasuke was in his room, probably taking a nap.

"Welcome back," my cousin replied idly, turning the page of his book. I went to the kitchen to put the takoyaki on the table and grabbed the opened letter on it. A folded paper slipped on the table, probably from my mother and Sasuke didn't read it, and I started reading Mikoto-san's letter.

Everything was good in Konoha, she hoped Sasuke wasn't too much trouble and asked me how I was doing. I smiled at the attention, and grinned when I read Itachi had had his surgery.

It went without any trouble and he was now in rehabilitation, again. Apparently, he was very weakened but was conscious and fine.

I chuckled when I realized behind the paper was his handwriting, asking for help because Mikoto-san was overdoing it.

After reading Mom's letter, I took papers and wrote back to them. I also wrote to Itachi, sealing what I bought him on the Eastern Continent in the letter as a birthday present. It was not much, just a lucky charm representing a blue swallow. Hopefully he would like it, because he needed some good luck. I didn't write the end of Mikoto-san's letter as I needed to know what Sasuke was going to choose. I put my pen down and went to the living-room, sitting on the carpet next to Haku.

He noticed me immediately and placed his book open on his chest, signaling me I had his attention.

"Did Mei-sama tell you bad news?"

"Oh no, she...has quite the proposition for me to be fair, I just...want your opinion on it." He sat up straight. "Okay...her and the Hokage have a mission for me as a Seal Master."

"You don't want to do it?"

"Well...it's not that, even if I know it will be hard I will have a lot of freedom, it's just...I'll leave the village for a couple of years. I would go on a trip for the mission and once it's done I'd go directly to Konoha for the other side of the exchange." Haku blinked at me and looked down. "But if you don't want me to go I'll stay! I was on a long mission not long ago, if you…"

"You should go Uzu-nee. If it's concerning the Akatsuki, I can't ask you to stay."

"How did you..."

"A trip requiring a Seal Master?" he asked me with an ironic smile. "Whereas there's an organization wanting the bijuus?"

"Said like this it does sound obvious," I mumbled. "You sure?"

"I am not alone and I'm not a child either," he reminded me kindly, "and I still have to train with you." I wasn't looking forward to that, Haku warned me he and Isobu would make me regret it if I came back hurt. Even if technically I wasn't hurt...I died.

"Understood sir," I replied and got up, "I'll tell Sasuke the news, see if he wants to tag along."

When I knocked on his door, he grunted in response and I smirked at him as I walked in. He was on his bed, an arm on his eyes.

"What do you want?" I spotted a couple of bags near the closet, all empty. Someone was not in the mood for packing.

"How do you feel about going back to Konoha?" No answer. "Sasuke? You don't want to see your brother and your parents?" He sat up and sighed deeply.

"I guess." I raised a brow. "I don't want to do genin missions again...or just...how come the last eighteen months passed so fast?"

"Time flies. I'm taking you don't want to go back just yet?"

"I don't have much of a choice, do I?" I took my chin between my fingers with a thoughtful expression. "What?"

"Well, I can't really call you my apprentice like you asked me to before we left Konoha because I didn't really specialized you in fuinjutsu." He glared at me through his bangs. "But I guess I could take you as an apprentice now..."

"Right, as if my father would accept."

"Maybe he already has, like Tsunade-san, before we left Konoha..." He raised his head toward me in the blink of an eye with wide eyes.

"What are you saying?"

"Heh, I wanted to wait until the end of your service to ask you if you wanted to, until Naruto and Jiraya-san are back in Konoha. So, what do you..."

"Yes!" He blushed in shame at the quick answer. "I mean...thanks for the offer, I accept." Fugaku-san was right, he didn't even think about turning down my offer.

"In any case, you still need to pack, we'll leave in the near future." He raised his brows at me so that I explained more. "Sensei relieved me of my duty for a while so I can take the mission her and Tsunade-san gave me as a Seal Master. You and I are going to travel through the continent and to...enemy villages! Yay!" I raised my arms to fake enthusiasm and he just deadpanned at me.

"I really can't leave you alone in Kumo."

"Yeah...you're not wrong about that. But, on the brighter side, traveling is the best way to grow and get to know yourself. I hope it will do the same for you."

He nodded.

If he found the purpose old Sasuke had found after the war now, it would be nice.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to NguyetMieu for the review!**

 **Bye!**


	68. Journey Arc: Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes or any OCCness.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 20**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 15**

 **Shisui: 24**

 **Kakashi: 29**

* * *

"Where are we going?" I asked Naoto as I was following him in his house. He didn't answer and went to a door. "Isn't it your storeroom?" He opened it and skillfully avoided a box, that crashed on the floor and many old toys scattered on it. "You have a hoarding problem."

"I'm giving you a present for your departure and you criticize me?" I blinked.

"A gift?" He rolled his eyes and walked in the small room like he could, before coming out of it with…

I widened my eyes in astonishment.

"Take it, Dad would have wanted you to have it."

"But..." My shaking hands received Yagura's club, the green flower slightly dusty. "But...I don't know how..."

"You'll learn, it's just gathering dust in here with his other stuff. You're still his apprentice, it goes to you." I looked at it, then Naoto with uncertainty.

"You're sure about this?"

"If I wasn't, I wouldn't be giving it to you right now." I stayed silent for a second before nodding, carefully hugging the club against me.

"Thank you," I whispered. He smiled and flicked my nose. I rubbed it with a frown.

"So, before you leave, help me go ring shopping." I raised a brow and he blushed. "Yeah...I'm gonna propose."

"Deal."

The next day, and two days before leaving for a long time, I found myself facing Haku on the Training Lake Three. Needless to say, Haku and Isobu went very hard on me, and even if technically, I could have fought back, I didn't totally because they were in their good right to kick my ass.

The good thing was, Haku could practice first aid afterward.

"Was the coral really necessary?" I mumbled, staring at the pink pieces of coral floating at the surface of the lake as we were on the bank. I winced when he put too much pressure on a wound.

"A comment?" I shook my head 'no'. Haku was scary when truly angry.

However, he seemed in a better mood after training and beating me, because when we walked home, he bought me takoyaki. Maybe a small part of him felt guilty for being so harsh...or it was me leaving soon that pushed him to do that. In any case, I ate happily my treat, and then ate the dinner Sasuke cooked as it was his turn.

Once I was in bed, ready to go to sleep, I thought back of when I died. I...remembered it.

I remembered seeing old Itachi. I remembered being in a familiar forest, I remembered punching him in the face. I remembered how heartbroken he seemed to be at my coldness toward him how...how similar the Itachi I was now used to had looked in the cemetery last years.

I pushed my face in my pillow. I mean, it wasn't as if I didn't know the two were the same guy but...but they were very different, weren't they? The Itachi I was friends with...the Itachi I was in love with had killed him when he killed the rest of his clan, hadn't he?

I frowned at the voice in my head. When I opened my eyes, I ignored oji-chan's apologetic look and glared at the newly awakened Nidaime.

"Will you shut up for once?" He scoffed at me, red eyes glaring back at me.

"The Uchihas." I snarled at him.

"Yeah, the Uchihas, they're not extinct like they could have been because _you_ put in place a system slowly rejecting them. Madara is not a fucking generality!"

"This clan is possessed by evil."

"For fuck's sake, I'm linked to the God of Death and can take the souls of other people, nobody is a saint! Instead of saying they're evil, you should have tried to help them to stay good you stupid douche bag!"

"Akane, calm..."

"Stay out of it!" I screamed at Minato without looking away from the Senju in front of me. Ever since he woke up, before the Shodai by the way, after I died, there was not a time where we would not fight. I just knew he had been Umiko's watching soul before.

"I did what was best for the village," he replied icily with his arms crossed. I mimicked him talking and he frowned harder. "Such puerility is not proper for your role."

"Now, Nidai..."

"Yondaime, we're talking." Minato sighed deeply at us.

"I may act puerile, but at least I don't justify my actions by saying 'for the village' every single time a bad decision is pointed at! The Uchiha clan is a part of Konoha, your so precious village wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them!"

I swelled up in pride a little when he averted his eyes on the side.

"Akane, please be a little bit more respectful." I shot a look at my godfather.

"Why? He's being an ass and keeps giving me headaches with his anti-Uchiha propaganda."

"Maybe because I'm the one who created some of the jutsu you use the most." I scoffed and knew my next words would be a lie just to hold my head high.

"It's like fuinjutsu, even if you created them, I'm much better than you at them and don't owe you anything." Minato facepalmed and Tobirama rolled his eyes at me.

"Uzumaki women," he muttered under his breath and it was my cue to leave.

I made sure to really cut the connection before trying to sleep.

I...this guy was so...infuriating! Why would anyone want to save him!? I had seen some snippets of the world where he died but...argh, I couldn't stand him.

The first Uchiha I had ever met had been Obito, before he went on the dark side. He set up the standard for any Uchiha, and because of that, I would never be able to give up on saying they're not bad. The reason I became friends with Shisui when we were kids was because he was reminding me of Obito after all.

* * *

Well...it was weird. It was rare for Ao-san and sensei to fight, and I was sure I heard the word 'Byakugan' but...sensei told me to pack so…

I was going to the memorial monument instead, on a cliff on the edge of the village, overlooking the sea. The walk was a quick one, and I bought some flowers on the way, but I stopped when it was in sight. The monument was there, but what surprised me were the two teenagers in front of it, particularly one of them.

"It's rare to see you here," I told them as I joined them. Suigetsu turned toward me and waved at me with his toothy grin, but Sasuke stood still, in front of the monument.

"I came here and saw Sasuke." I nodded and placed the flowers down. I read the names quickly and my fingers gently grazed Mangetsu's. "You're leaving in a few days, aren't you?"

"Tomorrow." He gaped at me.

"Heh, I thought we still had some time!" I raised a brow at him. "What, we could have had a party but now we'll just say goodbye at the gates." I smiled at him.

"It's the thought that matters."

"Yeah, sure..." I waved at him when he left us alone before turning back to Sasuke.

"So? You don't come here usually."

"We're leaving," he told me casually, "I thought I would come to pay my respect to them." It was...kind of him, and I was especially touched by this. "They taught me a lot about being a shinobi."

"Really?" He nodded.

"In the end, it's hard to know whether or not those who taught us to fight are in the right or not, if we are on the good side or not. Being in the Land of Water for so long showed me in the end it doesn't matter, because there will always be defenseless people at the center of the conflicts. It's not fair to them, to suffer from our conflicts."

"It's not," I agreed quietly, thinking about what old Naruto told me about Team Jiraya, about the real Akatsuki. "We, as shinobi, are expected to act as weapons for our leaders. We're forbidden to show weaknesses or emotions, but actually, it doesn't make us stronger, it limits our growth instead." Sasuke turned a curious gaze toward me. "Weapons don't learn from their mistake and can't function without someone using them. However, we do. We do things, we see things, and we learn from them every day. It's why sometimes, people will revolt like we did. I think it's stupid to blindly follow someone because of an institution. Loyalty should go to people, not...a place. Take Kiri for instance, Yagura wasn't good for the village yet everybody followed him because he was the Kage and it took time before doubts started. Actually, it's the common mentality of a group of people that makes a community like a village, not its leadership. I mean...we got up from Yagura's reign after all."

"Is it what a shinobi is then?" I raised a brow. "A fighter who gets up nd learn from the past?"

"I can't say what a shinobi is, it differs for everyone. Personally, I don't think you should be define as a shinobi because you have a forehead protector. If...if you use ninjutsu and use it to protect those who can't protect themselves, to create even just a semblance of fairness in this dog-eat-dog world, then to me you are a true and remarkable shinobi who realized your power can protect instead of destroying for someone else profit. Actually, even if you don't use ninjutsu but still try, you have the soul of a shinobi I guess."

"I see." A breeze blew between us. "Then what did you describe earlier?"

"Oh, that? Well, I'll let you meditate on that, I hope you'll be able to tell me the answer the day you'll be able to tell me who Sasuke is."

"It's getting clearer." I smiled and looked up at the misty sky.

"I'm glad to hear it, it takes time to get an answer to this kind of question. "

As we went home, I couldn't bring myself to wipe the small smile from my face. Getting up and learning from mistakes and the past, treasuring our emotions, even the bad ones...it wasn't what made a shinobi.

It was what made us humans. It was what was keeping us from totally becoming weapons.

If being a shinobi was synonym to being a weapon, then my initial thought on shinobi was right.

I didn't want to be one.

I just wanted a fair world.

* * *

The letters were sent, and I wrote it was useless to write us as Sasuke and I would be on the road for a while. I was currently babbling with Fubuki, pretty happy to be in my arms. Sasuke was thanking sensei, and Dai for some weird reasons.

"Haku, give me a hug!" He didn't roll his eyes but embraced me tightly, still careful not to crush the poor baby between us. "Wait, this easily?"

"Just be careful out there Uzu-nee," he whispered to me. I smiled softly and hugged him back with one arm.

"Only if you and Isobu do the same." I felt him nodding in the crook of my neck and my eyes landed on Karin behind him, a lot more confident than before. "Karin, keep an eye on all of them." She readjusted her glasses on her nose.

"Of course Uzu-nee! Someone has to keep them under control!" Haku took a step back and looked at her. He must have smiled or something, because my fellow Uzumaki's face took a beautiful shade of red. Suigetsu, being the pain he was, saw it.

"Heh...still can't handle Haku's sm..." He never finished his sentence because Karin kicked him in the head, making it explode in water. I snickered at them bickering and heard my two ex-students sighing.

"You two, keep them from killing each other." I gave Fubuki to Haku and proceeded to say my goodbyes to the others.

After Kimou crying in my arms because I was leaving her and our blossoming love behind, don't ask me, senpai kindly told me that if I were to die again, I could stay dead. He always had the word to warm my cold heart.

I hugged Naoto tightly, whispering him good luck with his future fiancee, and let Dai squishing me against his chest, rolling my eyes during his tirade on how I had to protect myself if I were to have sex, dying was not a good habit to have and basically his own way to tell me to take care. When it was sensei's turn, she smiled at me, although there was a tint of sadness in it.

"Who knew we would get goodbyes the day you leave the village?"

"Who knew I would end up doing it with an authorization?" I replied and we chuckled. After a brief hug, I waved my hitai-ate at her. "I'll use it if I need it."

"I wouldn't expect anything else from you." I grinned at her and secured the strap of Yagura's club, resting on my back. "Are you really going to carry it all the time?"

"I want to, as a way to pay my respect." Using it to kick Obito's ass later on was too tempting too, but it was left unsaid.

"Do you know where you'll go first?"

"I was thinking Iwa, let's do the worst one first."

"The Hidden Stone then?" Sasuke asked behind me.

"You're done saying goodbye?" He nodded. "Alright, then we should get going then. Take care of yourselves everyone."

"Send a letter every once in a while to remind us of your annoying presence." I blinked at senpai, and a lewd grin appeared on my face. Before I could say anything, Sasuke grabbed me by my collar and dragged me away.

Once on the cliff overlooking the village, leading to the harbor in relation with the Land of Waves, I shot one last look at my birth village.

It was no farewell, just a goodbye.

Yet, I had a slight heartache because I was leaving.

Feeling this whereas I was leaving Kiri of all the places...I wouldn't trade this feeling for anything in the world.

* * *

"Did you take your medicine Itachi?"

"Yes Mother, I did," came the tired reply as he was putting his shoes on.

"Are you sure you should go out though? What if you faint or..." Itachi sighed deeply.

"I'll be fine, Tsunade-sama asked me to take regular walks to keep my body in shape." Mikoto chuckled nervously.

"Of course, of course, it's just I don't want you to go back to the hospital because you pushed yourself too hard." How could he when she kept watching him like a hawk?

He couldn't try to put Sasuke at the center of her attention either, because from the letters Akane had been sending, he was perfectly fine where he was.

"I'll be back for diner." He closed the door silently behind him.

Now what could he possibly do? Sasuke and Akane were both in a different country, Naruto was somewhere on the continent and Shisui...Shisui waited for him to be out of the hospital after the surgery to tell him he was leaving on a long-term mission of at least six months.

Izumi had been repeating to him she was there for him if he needed, and sometimes she would just be there, but...he didn't feel the need to be with her, even as friends. She was clearly clutching onto something that was gone.

"Itachi?" The Uchiha's thoughts were cut short by the voice of his old captain.

"Kakashi-san?"

"You don't seem to be at your best," the jounin said idly, his eye back on his book. Itachi averted his eyes to the side.

"Hn." On this note, Kakashi closed his book.

"Well, if you don't have anything to do, you won't mind helping me, will you?"

Taken back by Kakashi's request, he followed him to Training Ground Three, where from what Naruto and Sasuke told him, the former had been tied up to a wooden pillar.

"I need you help Itachi, but please refrain yourself from saying anything to Fugaku-sama."

"Is there something wrong with your sharingan?"

"Actually, I'm not sure," Kakashi admitted. Itachi raised a brow, and opened his eyes a little wider when Kakashi turned around, showing a different pattern in his eye. "I want to say it's a good thing...but I have a feeling it's not."

"Considering you are not a natural owner of the Sharingan, I doubt your body can handle the Mangekyou very well."

"Depends, do you think being unconscious for three days after a mission is handling it well?" There was a silence between the two men, where Itachi deadpanned at him. Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose. "How...she lives in Kiri, how can I talk like her?"

"You used to spend a lot of time together."

"Okay, it's not true!" Kakashi denied vehemently. "She kept coming and bugging me all the time! I've never asked for this! She's been a pain since she was two and will probably be for the rest of her life!"

"I feel like I'm listening to Utakata-san talking. Maybe you should form a band or something." Kakashi glared at him. Apparently, sarcasm wasn't welcomed right now.

"Anyway, could you help me training my eye?"

"Of course," he replied. It wasn't as if he had anything better to do right now.

However, maybe he would take on his father's proposition. Maybe working at the police station and using his brain until his sick leave was over would do him some good.

Oh, so that was what it had been.

Boredom and frustration.

Itachi was bored of his life, confined in the village with his mother constantly on his back even though he was twenty and recovering, and frustrated because he felt utterly and completely useless.

"To begin with, the Mangekyou is..." Helping Kakashi would be for the best too, who knew what his eye could do.

* * *

"...slowly turning you blind, like Wataru-san told you," I told Sasuke as we were walking toward the Land of Earth, now very close to the border. "From what you told me of your fight with Taiga, you know your eyes will bleed at the use. You can use the Susanoo, but it comes with an excruciating pain until you have the Eternal Mangekyou." I crossed my arms on my chest. "Actually, it's annoying Itachi doesn't have it."

"Hn," Sasuke replied. I raised a brow at him but he kept staring straight ahead of him. "It's nothing, maybe we can find a seal to force him to awake it?"

"Interesting, I spent a lot of time learning about the Sharingan to seal it, but never to force it to improve. I mean, we could force Itachi in something akin to genjutsu and make him witness the death of his closest friend. He can't be aware of it though, because the trauma wouldn't be..." I stopped myself and shared Sasuke's gaze of disbelief. "Oh God, it's horrible! Stop me when I start rambling on possibilities about seals like that!"

"It never went that far before," he told me with a frown, "but please, refrain yourself from traumatizing my brother."

"Duly noted." We walked in a comfortable silence for a few minutes until Sasuke spoke up.

"I was wondering, you have a letter to give to the Kage but otherwise, you only need to see the jinchuriki, correct?" I nodded. "Then shouldn't we look for them?"

"Not that the idea of looking for them like fishy people to tell them the Akatsuki is looking for them is strangely paradoxical to me," I started with a tint of sarcasm, "I...agree with you. It's their seal, they should have the right to decide whether or not I can look at it. But a jinchuriki is...is a weapon, the village property, even if they're human beings."

"It's not fair."

"It's not."

"Does it mean Naruto is Konoha property?" he asked me. "They let him leave though."

"Yes, with Jiraya-san, one of the three Sannin and the Fourth Hokage's sensei. If it wasn't him...the old geezers that are the Advisers would have put him under lock and key." I stopped in my tracks out of sudden, looking around frantically. Sasuke stopped too a few meters in front of me, and watched me basically freaking out.

"Akane? What, have you been here before?"

"Huh...Actually I might have," I muttered.

I traveled a lot before. With old Itachi and old Hoshigaki-san, with Mom...then I settled down near the border between the Land of Earth and the Land of Fire. I lived there for what, three or four years? In any case, it was where old Itachi and I would be...our version of an item I guess?

How could I forget this still familiar road?

I ran, the Uchiha with me running behind me asking for explanations concerning my behavior, but I didn't answer. Instead, I ran, ran and ran, quickening my pace when I spotted a tea house. I froze and stared at it without a word. Sasuke stopped next to me and shot a quick look at the place.

"Hey," he said, grabbing my wrist firmly to make me look at him, "is it where you and him..."

"I worked there," I whispered. "I mean...I did but...not to them?"

"I get it." I sighed slowly. "Do you want to stop here?"

"No I'm...I'm good."

We walked across the village. I was fully aware of Sasuke giving side glances every now and then, but I played oblivious until we passed a bakery. I knew it very well, every time old Itachi was there, I would buy dangos here.

On a whim, I entered the shop and bought dangos. Without a word, I walked the path I walked every day decades ago, and soon I was running.

I slowed down when I caught a glimpse of the house, to completely stop in front of it. I stared at the house with wide eyes.

It was falling to ruin, dust having accumulated on the windows and blocking the view inside. I pushed the door open in a grating noise.

There was dust everywhere.

The old woman who gave me the house before never found anyone to give it to and now it was rotting away. It…

It was heartbreaking.

Was it a sign to tell me the old me was really...gone? That there was nothing for me to look back at?

I mean...I knew I couldn't go back but...but to have the place where old Itachi and I would be together and love each other in that state…

I delicately placed the dangos on the table, almost like an offering.

' _I have faith in you, always have,_ ' old Itachi told me when I was dead. He never showed it. I felt terrible for sometime doubting his feelings for me in the past. He…he didn't really want to leave me that time, did he?

Now I wanted to talk to him.

"We can't stay here for too long," Sasuke's voice told me from outside. I nodded to myself. Around my neck was a necklace I bought, not the one he gave me. I later gave it to Aki, but...but that piece of jewelry had meant so much to me.

With my forefinger, I wrote something in the dust on the table, right next to the sweets. A small smile graced my lips at the 'Thank you' written in the dust. With one last look around the room, I walked out.

I never really told him 'goodbye', did I?

Well then.

Goodbye my love.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to NguyetMieu, Guest and Kazukimi for the reviews!**

 **Bye!**


	69. Journey Arc: Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes or any OCCness.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 20**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 15**

 **Shisui: 24**

 **Kakashi: 29**

* * *

Getting to meet the Tsuchikage had been difficult. First of, Iwa was fully aware I was Yagura's apprentice, kunoichi of the Mist, and Sasuke's face and behavior was screaming 'Uchiha', so Konoha. Two villages Iwa was not fond of. Obviously, the guards were not welcoming, but we had been nothing but obedient to their orders. I had to repeat multiple times I had a letter from Konoha, Suna and Kiri I needed to deliver to the Tsuchikage myself for them to call for the Tsuchikage. After even more hours, we were led to his office, heavily guarded, and when we were in the office, he was sitting at his desk, anbus all around the room in plain sight.

He wanted us to know we would be kill without the shadow of a doubt if we were acting strange.

"So," the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, started idly, as if it was just a random meeting, "to what do I owe the pleasure of being visited by an Uchiha and the Bijuu Tamer?" I kept my wince to myself at the nickname. Carefully, I pulled out the letter, written in a scroll, from one of my back pouches as I now had two, and handed it to him.

"A letter signed by the Mizukage, Hokage and Suna." He scoffed and with a sign of the head, an anbu grabbed the scroll from my hand and gave it to the Tsuchikage.

"Three villages? What do you want, our help?" a girl snickered smugly on the side, her hands crossed behind her head. I blinked quickly. Kurotsuchi, Fourth Tsuchikage, was standing near her grandfather, a tall and chubby man next to her. I had his name on the tip of my tongue, but I only met him once before so…

I felt Sasuke tensing next to me. The Tsuchikage nonchalantly ripped the scroll into pieces and threw them in the air. I ignored the laughs now echoing in the room and kept staring at the short old man in front of him.

"Iwa doesn't need anything and doesn't give anything to enemy villages." I closed my eyes, and when I opened them once again, my mask was now one of the coldness and a tint of superiority supposed to spark his interest in what was written down.

"I guess coming from you, who fought many wars, they are still your enemies, even if this notion might just make you look like a foolishly stupid grandpa too attached to the past to see how the present is changing."

Was it an insult in disguise? Yes.

Did I just imply Onoki was no longer fitted for the job? Maybe.

Did the laughs stop to be replaced by a heavy tension? Definitely.

"Leave this village immediately," the Tsuchikage ordered us coldly, the death threat in his voice at any more sign of disrespect strongly implied. I bowed, Sasuke following my example, and we let ourselves being 'escorted' to the exit of the village.

Of course, by escorted, I mean knocked out to keep us from seeing too much of the village and to teach us a lesson. I woke up first in a rocky scenery, absolutely no vegetation in sight. It were just pure mountains and rocks all around us.

I gave myself a weak slap to get my spirit back together and went to Sasuke to shake him awake. There was a grunt and he blinked several times, confused.

"Where..." he started hoarsely as he sat up. After clearing his throat, he looked around him. "They didn't kill us or harm us?"

"We need to check for any possible poisoning or, I don't know, trap or bombs around. A direct kill on either of us would spark a real big conflict, even if we're not here as shinobi. But an accident can quickly happen in a foreign land." I frowned and jumped on my feet, grabbed the club in my back and adopted a defensive posture. Seeing that, Sasuke got up too, took his sword and leaned his back against mine to cover my blind spots.

"How many?"

"One," I replied and felt his surprise, even if I couldn't see him. "Big chakra...it's probably one of the jinchuriki."

"Hostile?"

"Can't say."

I stopped breathing for a solid second and gulped when a huge man walked over to us. His right right hand was tucked in his kimono and most of his face was hidden, the kasa on his head shadowing even more his face.

I knew who he was though, and felt the muscles of my body tensed.

That guy was Han, Gobi's jinchuriki, partner to Kokuō. He was recognized for his effort during the war. To be fair, just his height was intimidating. He was towering us by dozens of centimeters and I was pretty sure he could break me with just a punch.

I pinched Sasuke's back to make him understand not to show any sign of hostility.

"Han," I greeted him after taking a deep breath. He stopped in front of me and looked down upon me. I felt a drop of cold sweat running down my back when he started to raise his hand.

I blinked sheepishly when it was stretched out in front of me. After a solid second of internal debate, I took it to shake it. We shook hands and then he pulled mine toward his abdomen.

"You know," I whispered. He nodded quietly and in the blink of an eye, I was in an empty white scenery, Han in front of me, and Kokuō behind him. "Ko...Kokuō I presume?"

"It is an honor to meet you, Yurei." I wrinkled my nose. I wasn't a fan at being called that way. "But perhaps your given name would please you more."

"Akane," I said, "just call me 'Akane', or even 'Uzumaki', just not...by my 'function' I guess?" I straightened up, ramrod straight. "I have already warned Saiken and Isobu of what I am about to tell you."

"Is Isobu fine?" I raised my brow at the dolphin-horse. "The news of the battle in Kiri reached this country."

"Oh. He...he's fine now, he's getting along with his new partner." Han was making me uncomfortable by just staring at me. "Even though...Yagura, my master, and Isobu have been under a powerful genjutsu cast by the Sharingan. I...I broke the genjutsu but..." I looked at my left hand and closed my fist. "Yagura's body didn't handle it, it's how strong it was. Damn, there's a lot to say...you know how Kurama ravaged the Leaf years ago?" The both nodded. "Well...he was controlled by the same guy. He calls himself Uchiha Madara but he's not. He...He's a part of the Akatsuki, an organization of S-rank criminals. You probably know one of them, Deidara?"

"The Bakuton boy."I nodded at Han's first words in my presence.

"Yeah...they wear black cloaks with red clouds and soon, they'll start looking for the Tailed-Beasts."

"Do you know why?"

"Juubi." A heavy silence fell upon us. "They huh...He wants to use the Infinite Tsukuyomi."

"It is not good." Yep, Kokuō was right about this.

"Exactly, this is why I gave a letter to the Tsuchikage coming from three villages. He torn it apart."

"Onoki is far too prideful to want anything to do with another village, especially if it helps or makes peace among the nations."

"Unfortunately, this pride has been reflected on the village for decades and is deeply fixed within the villagers' mind." I looked down at Han's words. No matter the place...was pride really that important?

"Only a major crisis would make him consider working alongside the other nations." Yeah...but if the Fourth Great Shinobi War could be avoided though…

"Anyway, I mainly came to warn you. If the Tsuchikage had authorized me I would have taken a look at your seal but...I don't want to overstep my boundaries even more. Thanks for you time."

"Thank you for coming all the way from Kiri," Han told me with sincerity. I smiled faintly at him.

"It's...normal, considering what I know and how the jinchurikis and bijuus are the targets. Also, they have to seal you in order."

"Rōshi lives in a village two hours away from the border with Ishigakure."

On this, the white scenery turned into the mountains we were in. Han dropped my hand, nodded one last time in my direction and started to leave.

"What just happened?"

"One person done," I told Sasuke, "the next one is near Ishigakure."

"Ishigakure?"

"It's situated in a country between the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind, behind the Land of Rain and the Land of Grass. It's not very known, to be fair I'm surprised it already exist." Here I thought it was created after the war…

"You've been there _before_?"

"Not me." I pulled a map out of my backpack. No, I didn't put everything in scrolls. "We might just as well go to Suna to see Gaara after, it's on the way." He nodded.

* * *

I grunted at the burn on my arm, my left hand covering it. That Rōshi guy knew how to use his lava.

"I don't know what you want from me, but get lost!" he yelled at us with anger.

"We're not looking for troubles, we just want to talk." He didn't like my answer, because I dodged a ball of hot lava, which burned the tree it crashed into.

"I don't care, I have more important things to do. These men have to be stopped." Sasuke perked up at that.

"Men?" Sasuke repeated as I got up.

"Yeah, well we have nothing to do with them, we just want to talk with Son Gokū!" This caught the old man's ears.

"How do you know its name? Who are you?" I rolled my eyes and raised my arms before letting them fall limply on my sides in exasperation.

"As if he didn't already know! If he kept his mouth shut it's because he doesn't give a shit about what I have to say? He thinks the same as Shukaku, that I pretend to be God?"

"No." I raised a brow at the answer and the frown on the man's face. "He just doesn't care about what you want to say."

"Well Kokuō was more cooperative..." I muttered under my breath.

"And if we help you with these 'men', will you listen?" Rōshi scoffed at the idea.

"I don't need you to take care of them." He spun around and left. I clicked my tongue. It did not go well.

"Now what?" the Uchiha asked me stoically.

"He'll hear me out, one way or another," I stated with a hint of irritation in my voice. "He's after some people? Then we are after some people." I cut my thumb open and summoned Seihitsu. "We're tracking unknown people down!" If he could see, he would deadpan at me. I rubbed him under the chin. "Up for the challenge?"

"It doesn't seem like I can make you change your mind." He sniffed the ground around us and raised his head to the west, toward Ishigakure.

As we followed Seihitsu, we explained the situation to him. Except for some low growls, he didn't say much up until we reached the border, said border being an arid mountain chain. Seihitsu growled louder and more threateningly.

"Is there something?" Sasuke asked him, his hands in his pockets.

"I can smell humans and chemicals...but it's faint, almost like it was underground." I narrowed my eyes. "Also, there are hostile presences around."

I started sensing and cursed in my mind. Yep, at least a dozen of enemies around.

From the corner of my eyes, I noticed Sasuke placing his hand over his cursed mark with a grimace on his face. I walked up to him and moved his hand away without a word.

"Did it start a while ago or just now?"

"Maybe fifteen minutes ago," he admitted quietly, "I didn't think much of it."

"I told you anything regarding this mark is important. For all we know, Orochimaru is around to take you away." If there was one thing I had not thought of before taking Sasuke with me on this trip, was that snake still lurking around wanting a new body.

I grabbed my club and stopped the fist of a man. My left eye twitched at the unnatural gray color of his skin and the fangs sticking out of his bottom jaw to his nose.

The curse mark. Then, there was a chance the 'men' Rōshi mentioned were Orochimaru's men and the reason they had to be stopped...might be underground human experiences.

As he moved back to throw another punch at me, at least try to, I slid my left arm over my club, pressed it hard against my abdomen to keep it still and spun around. I caught his neck in the hook of the club. He yelled and the sinister sound of his neck snapping when I stopped spinning abruptly filled my ears. I pushed his body on the ground with a kick and shot a look at Sasuke, who just slashed another man in the chest. Seihitsu was dealing with his own men to take down.

From the corner of my eyes, I spotted another one coming at me. I focused a little on my left arm and narrowed my eyes at the man when the purple ghostly arm of the Shinigami covered mine. I turned around and dived my hand in his stomach when he was just behind me. Unlike with Raiga, I didn't linger over it. Once I felt the warmth the Shinigami was so fond of, I grasped it and torn it away from the body. I wasn't as spent as the first time, proof the training on the Eastern Continent paid off, but I didn't feel any changes.

Needless to say, the fight was not a long one. Sasuke made the last one talk with the Sharingan and quickly slashed his throat.

Seeing him killing that easily...I couldn't help but wonder if, before he knew the truth about old Itachi, old Sasuke was like that too.

He chose to be a shinobi though, the blood on his hands was his choice, not mine, nor was it my responsibility.

"Let's set up camp for the night," I decided as the moon could be seen in the still clear sky. "We've had a long day, we need to rest. I'll take the first watch." We set up camp quickly and found ourselves close to the fire Sasuke made.

"If it's Orochimaru," Sasuke started after long minutes of silence, "do we contact Konoha?"

"Yes," I replied idly, "but we're still going tomorrow. You're better in infiltration, I've already infiltrated one of his lairs before and we can't afford to stay here for too long unless we want Iwa to send us back to our villages in body bags. It' risky, but we're doing it."

He didn't add anything more. When he was sleeping, I wrote a quick note to the Hokage, summoned Uma, gave it to him and asked him to reverse summon himself to Mom. I didn't want him to run in the night.

* * *

Let's just say it was tense. Seihitsu led us to the lair. It was literally just meters away from the border with the country of Ishigakure and I was pretty sure the underground spread out to the other country.

There was no noise around, not even the whistle of the wind.

I ordered Seihitsu to hide and stay outside to watch around as we sneaked in, chakra concealing seals on us. I was careful to leave markers behind us.

To be fair, the plan we had was dangerous, terrible and precarious. Free the prisoners and make them leave alive, try not to die. The plan had no real structure to it, Sasuke and I just agreed we needed to free the innocent people there. The worst was we couldn't even blow up the place, because who knew what was in it? I didn't want to be responsible for the destruction of the local fauna and flora because of some weird things Orochimaru was experimenting on.

At least, I couldn't feel any important chakra in the base. Just...weird, altered ones. Probably people with the curse mark.

Sasuke quickly drew a seal on the floor and activated it, showing us any traps around. There were some, but nothing impossible to dodge.

Carefully, we made our way through the base, me never stopping to sense. Suddenly, I grabbed Sasuke by the front of his collar and threw him against the wall, my hand firmly pressed against his mouth

There were sounds nearby. Sounds of a fight. By now, I could feel other people, civilians by the weakness of the chakras. I signaled to Sasuke to follow, away from the fight.

"KILL! I'M GONNA KILL!" Sasuke and I sped up at that.

It wasn't long before we were in a hallway of cells. I wasn't expecting shouts of glee at our sight, but still, the pure fear on their faces, even those of children, made me sigh deeply.

Really, how could old Naruto just let Orochimaru be after everything he'd done? It...children!

"Sasuke, you still have that senbon with the explosive seal on it?"

"Yes," he replied quickly, taking it and going to the lock on my right. I did the same on the left.

"Wait," a man in his forties stated, stretching out his arm when a little girl tried to leave the cell. He stared harshly at me with mistrust. "Who are you?"

"Your saviors I guess, but if you want to stay in Orochimaru's care..." I trailed off. He twitched, and with one last gauging glance, he allowed the little girl and the others to get out of the cell.

I looked in the cells.

There were still people. Or at least, what used to be people. Now it was just corpses starting to rot away. I jogged up to Sasuke.

"How many empty scrolls do you have?" He dug out two black scrolls from his back pouch. I clicked my tongue and put my hand next to his, only one scroll in it. "There are casualties, I'll buy you other ones."

"Sure, but will you have enough space?"

"I'll squeeze them in," I muttered. "Count the survivors and explain them the situation. And please, _please_ , look likable and more than just physically." He scoffed and crossed his arms, turning his back on me. I rolled my eyes and started to go round the cells, sealing the bodies.

I fought the shaking of my hands when it was a little boy's, not older than six, turn. The mother inside of me was having her heart broken.

Once all the bodies securely sealed away, I went behind the group as Sasuke told them we were going to escort them out. I made two clones to check our surroundings, especially the fight we avoided before.

There was nothing for a couple of minutes, where only the sounds of people walking could be heard in the dark hallways. Surprisingly, it wasn't long until I heard someone say they could see the light of outside.

Right at this moment, an explosion shook the base and I knew one of my clone just died as I received a flash of dust and rubble.

"Alright people, run but don't pass Sasuke!" I ordered them sharply, Sasuke taking his katana.

Another explosion echoed and I situated it around the spot we were not that long ago.

Fortunately, we made it out outside in one piece. Unfortunately, my second clone disappeared, telling me we were not the only ones. Rōshi ad been fighting with someone, got out of the base with that someone following him. My clone tried to stop them but got impaled like butter.

"Sasuke, I'm leaving them to you!" I screamed at the teenager, running away to go to the still ongoing fight.

The trees, naked without their leaves in the cold air of December, quickly vanished to be replaced by the bottom of the rocky mountains. I started sensing again and ran up the wall.

They were close.

What was not my surprise to see Rōshi covered by the bijuu cloak, using his ball of lava against…

A monster?

It turned around to look at me. No, from the mad smile, they, he was human. Just...the curse mark was…

"KILL!"

He ran to me. I grabbed a marked kunai and threw it at him. He deflected it in a mad laugh, my kunai flying high in the air. I teleported to it quickly. The...person stopped abruptly and looked around. I took this opportunity to throw another kunai. It dug itself in the blade like black thing on his arm and I teleported to it, placing an Immobility Seal on him.

I widened my eyes when he shattered it completely and I just had the time to create a water shield and freeze it that they were punching it, an energy blast still sending me meters away on the ground.

Okay, I wasn't expecting someone with a curse mark to be that strong, or just to overpower my basic seal that easily.

"Are they okay?" Rōshi asked me sternly with a side glance.

"Yeah, we got them out before the lair was bombed by who-knows-who."

"Deidara." I craned my neck to look up at him, still on the ground. "It was his bombs."

"Gosh, these two are always here when I least expect them to be!"

The thought of Sasuke alone with a group of civilians and the Akatsuki around was far from a pleasant one, but I couldn't really just leave the fight. I jumped on my feet and watched Rōshi's first tail popping out and a cloak of lava engulfed him. He ran toward the thing and they clashed, the injuries the enemy suffered healing themselves.

There had to be a trick to this.

Rōshi jumped back next to me, panting slightly.

"He absorbed my chakra to heal." So that was what it was.

As he ran back to us I stretched out my hand to form my water mirror. With the hook of my club, I pulled it backward the same way Yagura used to do it, and the replica of the monster came out.

"Suiton: Water Mirror Technique!" There was a high-pitched scream as the replica clashed with him. He was thrown back as the replica dispersed itself. Rōshi made a move to attack, but I stopped him with my club. "Wait, something is going on." I felt a drop of sweat rolling down my back as he writhed in pain and agony.

His skin slowly turned back to a regular beige tone and I finally spotted the bright orange hair he had. I couldn't even form a word that he left in a terrified yelp.

He was tall, even in his regular form.

I...I had seen him, somewhere, before.

"Hey, do you know what it was?"

"Orochimaru's Curse Mark," I replied curtly, grabbing his bicep with my left arm.

I was back in that white space, a different duo in front of me. The giant monkey in front of me was pissed, but I didn't have the time.

"A group called the Akatsuki, dressed with black coats with red clouds, will soon be looking for the bijuus to revive the Juubi and cast the Infinite Tsukyomi on the world. Here, done, less that thirty seconds." I stopped the connection and teleported to Sasuke.

The lightning on the blade of his katana grazed my cheek when he killed a man behind me. I crouched on the ground and his free hand leaned on my right shoulder so that he could spin around and kicked the body in the opponent behind him. I stood up once Sasuke was back on the ground.

"Mission accomplished on my side," I told him. "Also, the explosions..."

"The Akatsuki, I know, they flew above us and left."

"Like that?"

"They didn't like black flames." Made more sense. "Anyway, Orochimaru's experiments are in for the kill. Seihitsu is protecting the escapees."

"Understood."

There were many. I was knocking them out or killing them with my club or taijutsu, their levels not needing more efforts on my part. When I saw Sasuke unseal a shadow windmill shuriken, I jumped on the branch of a tree. Even if I could not see it, I knew there were wires connecting his fingers and shuriken.

Then, a shadow windmill was unsealed from each of the four blades, and again from the new four, and again until he had thirty-two of them. Blue lightnings engulfed them as they spun around the targets, enough to paralyze them from the amount used. As a finishing blow, Sasuke aimed his weapons to them, the lightning still there, and when it came down, it made two craters in the ground. Not deep, but wide and long.

I cast a glance at Sasuke. He was slightly panting and the first stage of the Curse Mark was regressing.

"It still uses quite a lot of chakra." I jumped down next to him, looking around us. All dead or almost. Yeah...yeah, Kiri...Sasuke was easily-influenced, he might get a shock once back in Konoha...Kiri way of doing thing...he absorbed it like a sponge absorbs water. "Well, you're not getting out of chakra control exercises anytime soon, lucky for you the ones I know are the best you can have." I wiped the blood from his cheek. "I'll seal the Mangekyou, it's too risky."

"I can deal with it just fine." I retracted my hand.

"It's an easy way out too dangerous, don't make me act as the Uchiha clan Seal Master Sasuke." He grunted and turned his back on me. "So you're not helping me clea...okay," I mumbled as he body-flickered away. "Let's clean this mess up then Akane." I didn't even have…

Most of the bodies were burned to a crisp anyway.

I was in the middle of trying to find a solution when I felt a familiar chakra behind me. I craned my neck back and grinned at Kakashi.

"Ka-kashi!" He raised his hand as a greeting.

"I've just seen Sasuke, he seems to be fine."

"I'm fine too, thanks for asking." He eye-smiled at me.

"You're welcome." I halfheartedly glared at him. I was happy to see him after a year and a half. "Isn't it reckless to be so close to Iwa?"

"I love living dangerously," I replied, accepting the empty scroll he gave me. We quickly sealed the bodies and I was almost skipping as we made our way back to the group. "So, how's Mom and everyone?"

"Akiko-san adopted a dog." I raised my brows. She always refused me pets. "She's alone now, there was a retired ninken at the Inuzuka clinic so she adopted him."

"I see."

"Itachi works at the police station until he's back on missions. Keep it to yourself, but he feels alone now, with Shisui-kun gone too..."

"Heh? Shisui's gone where?"

"Long-term mission. I don't know the details, but he's been gone for three months now, or maybe four." I pondered over that. Yeah, Itachi wasn't going through the easiest of times, with Shisui gone too…

I sighed. I still had a lot on my plate, he was alone but alive and healthy for now.

Once we were back with the group, I smacked Sasuke on the back of his head. He rubbed it with a frown.

"You deserved it." I glanced at the team of medics, led by Shizune-san, examining the survivors, surrounded by anbus. "So?"

"They are being examined and then released, unless they show signs of Orochimaru's experiments on them. Konoha will make sure they're stable to be left on their own." I nodded at Kakashi's explanation. Discreetly, I peeked at a bush on my right. My eyes met Rōshi's. We stared at each other for a long second until he left. "Akane?"

"I'm fine, just thinking back of the joy to prove stubborn old geezer wrong." I lightly punched Sasuke in the shoulder to get his attention. "Time to go."

"Where are you heading now?" Kakashi inquired.

"Suna," his student answered stoically. Kakashi hummed, his chin between his fingers.

"If I'm not wrong, the Chuunin Exams should be soon. The first since the attack."

"Wanna take it?" I asked Sasuke. He deadpanned at me.

"There will be other exams, and Naruto is not even back yet." I smirked.

"Of course, silly me. Kakashi, say 'hi' to everyone." I quickly glanced at Sasuke. "Sasuke says 'hi' to, and we're both fine and we eat well!"

"Don't speak for me!" I grabbed the back on his collar to drag him.

"But I have to translate your feelings!" I could feel the vein popping on his forehead.

"I don't need a translator and I can walk on my own!"

"Stop wounding my feelings!"

"Tsk." I laughed.

Two down, plus the two in Kiri. Four bijuus to go, and I'll figure something out for Kurama once in Konoha.

Now, let's go to the Hidden Sand!

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to NguyetMieu, for the review! And well, you know...Akane's Akane.**

 **Bye!**


	70. Journey Arc: Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes or any OCCness.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 20**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 15**

 **Shisui: 24**

 **Kakashi: 29**

* * *

"It needs some work." Sasuke kept bandaging my right hand without a sound. "I mean...I knew there was a lot of risks using the Chidori without the Sharingan, but I didn't think that much." I moved my fingers a little. It still hurt.

"The storage part of the seal is good, the Chidori didn't hurt you while it was inside," Sasuke noticed as he put the little bandages he had left in his pouch. I nodded.

"Yeah, it's the release the problem. I need to work on the formula, make it so there is more protective chakra between the jutsu and the palm of my hand." I hated to admit it, but the team working on these Scientific Ninja Tools were good. I raised my eyes on Sasuke. "So, did it give you an idea?"

"Maybe put an indication of the nature of the stored material to make it easier...but then again I would need to be able to unseal from a distance."

"Well...it's possible. Take my Hiraishin for instance. It's pretty much just a storage seal when you think about it, but me or anything or anyone with a marker on them are the subject and we're directly unsealed to another marker. So...you can."

"That trick you do with making weapons pop out from your markers is easier than unsealing a Raiton jutsu, even a minor one." I raised my eyes to the cloudless sky.

"At least you managed to make a technique derived from the Chidori weak enough to be sealed." He scoffed.

"It's not enough." I smirked at him and got up, my club firmly strapped to my back. I poked his arm, where I hit him during training. "Don't you start going easy on me." I raised a brow.

"It didn't even cross my mind. I've given you the authorization to use the Sharingan in certain cases, when I don't think it's the best way to train, because we don't have that much time in front of us, I'm not gonna start to go easy on you." Then, quietly, I added: "I don't want to hurt your manly pride either."

Ignore his glare Akane, you're used to that by now.

"A-ny-way," I started as I took the lead. By lead, I meant I was two centimeters in front of him, because he hated walking behind me, for some reasons. "We'll be seeing the desert soon." The desert...oh joy…

"You don't like the heat, do you?" I sighed.

"I'm from Kiri, mixed with the Yuki clan and their Ice Release...my body can handle colder temperatures than normal, but heat? I'll faint if we stay in the desert for too long."

"I'm not carrying you."

"I swear you sound like senpai or Kakashi."

At the border, I went to a bush to change my top. I replaced my kimono top by a version with short sleeves. The left one reached my elbow, my bandaged arm visible, my black glove still on. The right one stopped at the middle of my arm, a few inches above my elbow, Hinata's bracelet on my wrist. Instead of the black slinky top I had underneath, I changed for a lighter one, the straps and part around my chest black, the rest being just mesh armor.

The mark? It spread to the tip and under my fingers, leaving the palm bare, to just above my left breast. My tank top was leaving my collarbones visible, but it was cut straight in a line just above my breast, hiding any cleavage. Still, my magatama pendant was cold against my skin.

When I left the bush, Sasuke had changed too. Winter was almost there, and the Lands of Earth and Stone were both cold, with dense forests for the latter and lots of windy mountains for the former. But we were going in a desert.

Sasuke still had his navy blue pants tucked in his high black sandals, but the dark blue long-sleeved jackets was gone, leaving him in a white short-sleeved shirt with a V-collar, leaving some of the mesh armor underneath exposed.

There was still no Uchiha fan on his back, and none of these annoying stupid looking high-collars the Uchihas seemed to like so much.

Torture then began. We entered the desert.

I glared back at Sasuke when he would peek at me and then smirk at my turmoil.

Tsk, little fucker.

Last time I came, I didn't really pay attention to the scenery, I was too focused on Naruto and I's fight at the moment. But now, I had to admit it had its charm. It was way different from the wet environment I was used to, but it definitely had its charm. There was actually a sort of path in the sand, with signs every kilometers to keep people from getting lost. Even with the desert, the Land of Wind had a lot of inhabitants. Most towns were built around the oasis, but I had ever only been to Suna.

Luckily, the first one was just three hours from the border and we stopped there. I was already out of water and Sasuke grudgingly gave me some of his. The result was a thirsty Uchiha with an empty canteen and a lot of anger toward me and my sheepish grin.

"More."

"But Sas..."

"Shut up and seal more!" he barked at me, glaring daggers at me. I hunched my shoulders and kept sealing as much water in our respective scrolls I could.

I did drink his water, I owed him that at least.

We ended up staying in town and booking a hotel room as there was a seasonal sand storm coming. I had to be honest, it was very cute to see Sasuke pretending not to be interested in his surroundings.

"You've never been to this country before? Not even for Uchiha business?" He shook his head as I dropped my bag on one of the bed.

"The few times Father had to go outside of the village for the clan he still remained in the country. It's usually boring anyway, even Itachi can't pretend to be into the conversation forever." I chuckled behind my fist. "Ask him, he'll deny how his eyes were closing."

"It's tempting." I shot a look outside. The sun was setting quickly and the wind was rising, but nothing too bothersome. "I'm going to take a walk in town. Wanna come?" He slumped on his bed, his hands crossed behind his head. His eyes were closed.

"You were almost dying a few hours ago and you want to take a walk?" I nodded even if he couldn't see it. "You're on your own."

"Well, see you later then." I left the hotel and wandered aimlessly through the streets of Kousa, a small town subject to a lot of storm in the spring. It was not the biggest, as it was Oashisu, so it was relatively calm. The temperature had fallen quite drastically, as expected in the desert.

I bought a monaka. Noticing stairs to climb on the rampart surrounding the town to protect it from storms, I walked to it, climbed the stairs and leaned on the railing. I started to eat my treat, watching the sun, almost gone by now, giving a darker blue shade to the sky and a pinkish red tint to the clouds.

It was beautiful. The red clouds drifting toward the setting sun because of the wind…

The desert truly was gorgeous. Too bad I couldn't handle it very well during the day.

Hum? There was someone staring at me. I looked all around me and my eyes stopped on a male figure on my right. His face and torso were wrapped in a brown cloak in a way his entire face but his mouth was shadowed by the hood.

"Want my picture?" I asked with a disgruntled look. I squinted to get a better look at his face when he raised it a little bit. I almost choked on a chunk of red bean not smashed enough in the paste and jumped back, coughing and spitting it on the ground.

"I really have a hard time taking you seriously Uzumaki," the guy droned at me. I pointed an accusing finger at him with a dark glare.

"Shut up! You keep appearing when I don't expect you to! Where's Blondie?" The wind blew the hood back slightly, leaving red locks exposed. "Actually, why are you even here? Feeling homesick?" He stared flatly at me.

"I'm here to finish what you can't even start properly." I twitched at Sasori's, yeah Sasori, jab at me.

"You're chasing the snake?" Well, if the Akatsuki was after Orochimaru...I wouldn't get in-between. I mean...the two were our enemies but...if they could kill each other and make it less work for us…

He didn't say anything, settling for readjusting the cloak around him to hide his identity instead. You bet going back to your birth country after leaving it as a criminal wasn't the easiest thing to do. However, he wasn't attacking me or even showing any hostility toward me.

To be fair, he acted as if I wasn't even there or a threat.

I smirked to myself in irritation. He knew I wouldn't create a fight here. If a civilian was killed, it would be a diplomatic incident between the Land of Wind and Land of Water, which would then lead the Land of Fire in a tricky situation. Sasori was smart, he already figured out it was the last thing I wanted.

Still, he wasn't hostile, just here incognito.

"Aren't you going to try to kill me or take me to your Boss again?"

"Not my orders." I exhaled with my nostrils. We went back to the silence, my eyes darting between where the sun was not long ago and him and his relaxed posture.

Well…

This was awkward.

When he moved his arm, I adopted a defensive position by reflex. However, he merely searched something in what was probably a pocket before his arm was limp by his side again. He shot me a bored look.

"On edge?"

"You think?" I shot back sarcastically. Seriously, what was he up to?

He kept staring at the horizon. Only when the stars were high up in the sky did he start to walk away. He casually walked behind me and stopped a few meters further.

"One day, I'll kill you and turn you into a puppet Uzumaki. You'll be one of my masterpieces."

He left and I started breathing again.

It was...unexpected.

I actually followed him to see if he was really leaving. I kept staring at him when he ventured in the desert until he disappeared from sight, then almost ran to my hotel. I almost bumped into Sasuke when I opened the door.

"I was about to go look for you, it's been a while." Seeing my alarmed face, he frowned. "What?"

"When we're in Suna...we need to reach Suna fast." Sasuke was confused. "I saw...Sasori was there."

"Wait, Sasori? You mean the one from the Akatsuki?" I nodded sharply.

"Yeah...I'm fine, we didn't fight," I said quickly, noticing his eyes already scanning me. "Actually, him and Deidara are most probably on Orochimaru's track but..." I moved past him and sat on my bed, my hands crossed on my legs. "Fuck, he was _right_ here and didn't attack."

"Why didn't you?" I raised a brow at him.

"Civilians, possible diplomatic incident, too much variables were at stake if I were to start a fight." He looked down with furrowed brows. "We're leaving tomorrow as soon as we can."

"Understood."

Yeah, I couldn't let Deidara and especially Sasori wandering around the Land of Wind, especially knowing there would be the Chuunin Exams soon. I didn't know where they would be, but Suna would most likely participate and well…

Basically, it was bad.

* * *

"Finally!" I cried out when I recognized the entrance of Suna in the distance. "Come on Sasuke!"

"You were whining like a five year-old ten minutes ago," he muttered behind the cloth wrapped around his head and in front of his mouth. I waved him off.

"Shush you!" It was true though, we had only taken one break in the day. He still quickened his pace. I knew I was not the only one sick of walking in the desert! Once we reached the entrance, a shinobi stopped us.

"Decline your identity and reason for coming here."

"Were are Uchiha Sasuke and..." Sasaki? Uzumaki? "...Uzumaki Akane, we are traveling and stopping in Suna for business required by Kiri, Konoha and Suna." He looked unsure. "I'm a Seal Master and already came here a few years ago on request of the Fourth Kazekage."

"I'll take it from there." The shinobi left to be replaced by one with half his face covered by...oh, I met him in Konoha during the Chuunin Exams. He was the Sand Siblings sensei. Baki, was it? "Uzumaki-san."

"Baki-san," I reciprocated, Sasuke silent next to me.

"I will lead you to Kazekage-sama."

"I thought they hadn't found a Kazekage yet," Sasuke whispered to me as we followed Baki-san through the busy streets of the Hidden Sand. I sent Sasuke a funny look.

"Not forever, and I have an idea of who it might be. Now observe and don't speak for nothing." He scoffed and crossed his arms.

"I know that."

The Kazekage tower was like I remembered it to be. Sober but with a beautiful sight of the entire village and the cliffs surrounding it, behind the ramparts surrounding Suna.

Baki-san stopped in front of a door and I smiled at Temari when she opened the door. She blinked at me and returned my smile, although hers was smaller, shyer.

"Please come in, the Kazekage noticed you coming two hours ago." I raised my brows, impressed. I walked in the office, followed closely by Sasuke. My smile turned into a grin at the redhead looking through the window next to Kankurō. He turned around and I could feel Sasuke's surprise behind me, hearing his breathing stopping abruptly for a few seconds.

"Heh, I told you you'd make great things one day." Gaara turned to me, his eyes lacking the blood lust and hatred he had in Konoha. Good, Naruto had always been good at talking apparently.

"Akane-san," he greeted with a nod of the head before settling his eyes on Sasuke. "Uchiha Sasuke."

"Kazekage-sama." Gaara shook his head.

"You are Naruto's friend, there is no use for titles. I am glad to see you have been saved before being engulfed by darkness." Sasuke took a step forward and lowered his head.

"I was told by the Hokage of your intervention during this misjudgment." Although on the outside I didn't perk up at it, inside it was something else. Yeah, running away to Orochimaru and almost killing your best friend was a 'misjudgment'.

"What brings you here by the way?" Kankurō asked us.

"Seal Master business." Understanding flash in Gaara's teal eyes, but before we could get to it someone knocked on the door. Temari opened it.

"Sasuke?" We both turned around at the voice. I widened my eyes a little at Shikamaru and the Suna forehead protector tied around his arm.

"Shikamaru?"

"What are you doing here?" I asked him as he walked closer.

"After Sasuke left for an exchange, Tsunade-sama decided to make one with Suna and chose me." Well, it was an interesting twist. "I have four months left."

"Who's the other side?" Temari grunting answered me. "I see. Well, before we get to the heart of the matter, on the way we stopped in Kousa. I ran into Sasori." It cast a chill. "There was no fight and he implied him and his partner were after Orochimaru."

"So Akasuna No Sasori and Orochimaru are in the country, just great!" Kankurō yelled in anger. He turned to his brother. "Gaara, wh..."

"If this is true, then we should not have to worry about them for now. I will still send shinobi in the area. Temari, Shikamaru, try to figure out Orochimaru's hiding place."

They nodded and left promptly. It was fast.

"Are you aware of why we're traveling Gaara?"

"Yes, I was made aware of it a month ago, when I received the title of Kazekage." It was really recent. "I was surprised Suna accepted."

"It wouldn't be surprising the Council felt like trapped between Konoha and Kiri pressuring them." Kankurō turned his eyes to us. "No offense, it's actually a good thing."

"None taken. In any case, we went to Iwa. The Tsuchikage took the letter and torn it apart without reading it. I managed to warn the two jinchurikis though. Could you transmit the message to Konoha and Kiri?"

"It will be done shortly." His older brother sent him a look. Weird. I shared one with Sasuke and saw he was thinking the same thing. Something was going on in Suna.

"Also, if it's possible, I am tasked to take a look at the jinchuriki's seal and make it stronger, once again if possible. Since you're the Kazekage, I guess it's only your choice now. But, I've already worked on your seal in the past so it..."

"There is no need to convince, once I was made aware of your mission I accepted to have you look at my seal." I crossed my hands in front of me. "The...state I was in in Konoha...Orochimaru provoked it. He broke the seal you placed over Shukaku's and its influence came back all at once."

"Yeah, and three years without him at once is brutal." Gaara got up.

"I will personally arrange hotel rooms for you two. Will you be able to do it tomorrow?" I blinked sheepishly.

"I'm good, but I still need to work on your seal beforehand to avoid any mistakes." Kankurō had that weird look in his eyes again.

"What's the rush, the Chuunin Exams?" Sasuke asked them. An uncomfortable silence took place in the room, that Gaara broke soon enough.

"Please follow me."

However, in the hallways, there were looks. At first I mistook them for looks of mistrust toward us but…

My eyes found the back of Gaara's head.

He still had to gain people's trust as the new Kazekage. He would, in time, but for now…

Kankurō was worried for his brother.

* * *

Alright, I wasn't expecting this.

"I usually control it," I confessed blankly as I stared at Shukaku behind Gaara. Gaara was staring at the ghostly form of the Shinigami behind me. I sweat dropped at Shukaku laughing madly.

"A bijuu can attract you if they're good enough, idiot!" I just deadpanned at him. "You think you're so special and now..."

"I didn't know it would happen, I thought I was gonna die you stupid tanuki!" I roared back.

"Who are calling 'stupid' you stupid human!?" I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Fuck, out of four bijuus I only had troubles with Son Gokū and you're worst than him!"

"I'm not as weak as the others!" I took a deep breath and flared my nostrils at the same time. He was just being childish and I would ignore him.

"Anyway, Gaara..." The Kazekage seemed shocked by my spat with Shukaku, as his wide eyes were staring at me. "How to say this...please don't repeat it to Naruto, I need to find a way to break the news to him. Let's just say I'm not normal, I...it's very hard to shorten it..." I muttered before clearing my throat. "I...I used a forbidden technique of the Uzumaki clan and summoned the Shinigami. However, it didn't kill me but threw my soul back in time. This appearance," I showed me with my hands, "is the one I had when I died. Physically, I'm twenty and a half. In reality, I'm forty-four. It's why I told you you'd do great things one day, because I saw you doing it." He was still looking at me in disbelief, but his eyes were no longer wide opened.

"The Hokage...warned me you were peculiar." Thanks Tsunade-san, really. "And...you can talk to bijuus?" I showed my left arms, the marks shining purple for a couple of seconds.

"This allows me to do it. You know, Death is strong so it pulls us in a deep plan of your subconscious." Shukaku started to make fun of me again, and even if a vein popped on my forehead, I ignored him. "Anyway, because of this, I know the future I guess? A possible one already altered by now. I know what the Akatsuki wants."

"The bijuus," Gaara replied quickly. "You know the reason why?"

"The guy who's leading the Aktsuki wants to revive the Juubi and cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi on the moon so that the whole world is touched. Here, done." It shut Shukaku up.

"The Juubi you say?" I nodded. "What's that?" I blinked at him sheepishly. I assumed the bijuus knew about it and none of them told me otherwise. What… "You mean the form we were in before the old man split us apart?" I nodded and he growled.

"One more thing, they...the bijuus have to be sealed in order."

I broke the connection and shook my head when the brown walls around us were back. Sasuke was still quietly watching, having been granted the right to observe.

I was dizzy.

"Damn, it really was unexpected."

"Sorry." I waved Gaara off.

"It's not your fault." The seal on his stomach was in a triangular shape. Three black thin lines crossed it horizontally, around two centimeters between each, not crossing the edges of the triangle. It was a good seal, but not good enough to fully restrain Shukaku, or his influence at least. There were some black stains at the bottom of the triangle, where I had placed a seal five years ago. "Hmph, Orochimaru was sloppy, breaking my seal like that. It should be done in two days as I already know your seal."

"Is it the fastest you can be?" I nodded. "Fine."

"Do you have another agenda?" Gaara closed his shirt.

"The Chuunin Exams are taking a lot of time to prepare."

There was something else, I knew it, but if I had not been told about it, then I had nothing to do with it.

While I was busy with Gaara's seal, Suna found Orochimaru's lair. It had been destroyed, apparently by a very powerful explosion. Sasori and Deidara were already out of the country, but I doubted Orochimaru was dead. Temari and Shikamaru left for Konoha for the First Stage of the Chuunin Exams. Sasuke and I were ready to leave when Gaara summoned us in his office.

"The Second Stage will start in a few days, it is held in the Demon Desert."

"Oh. Wait, I don't even know if Kiri sent teams. We're still rebuilding."

"There is no team from your village Akane-san." Heh, no surprise there. "Most genin from Konoha who participated in the last Exams have passed the First Stage."

"Sakura?" Sasuke mumbled next to me.

"Are you allowed to tell us this?"

"I am the Kazekage," he replied calmly, handing me a file. "And I thought this might interest you." Sasuke moved closer to peek above my shoulder at the file. I raised my brows.

"Two jounins from Taki are taking part in the Exams with a genin, themselves disguised as genins," Sasuke said before raising his eyes to Gaara. "You don't think it's a regular genin then."

"It would be weird for a small village like Taki to send two jounins for a simple genin," I stated as my eyes scanned the girl's stats. Fū, she had pretty good stats so far, tan skin, short green hair and orange eyes. Nothing was out of the ordinary, except for the fact her teammates were jounins, of course.

"She would be a jinchuriki then? From the Hidden Waterfall?" Sasuke inquired sternly. I hummed at that, already knowing Taki had a bijuu.

"Taki hid it well." Konoha had Kurama, Iwa Son Gokū and Kokuō, Kiri Saiken and Isobu, Suna Shukaku and Kumo had Matatabi and Gyūki. The only one left was the Seven Tails, Chōmei. Old Naruto told me about them, but never in which village they were each or the jinchurikis.

For Kumo, the two were in the Bingo Book. I knew Gaara, Naruto, senpai and Yagura when he was alive. The only one I had not really heard about had been Han, the old geezer and Chōmei's host. If it was this girl and Taki had had a bijuu for who-knew how long for…

Respect.

"If you want to observe the Exams, then you are welcomed to."

"Don't mind if we take the offer then," I answered with a smile.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to kankananime123, realfan16, Guest, mikan26, Minty and kellygonzalezk001 for the reviews! Iwa is my least favorite too to be honest.**

 **Bye!**


	71. Journey Arc: Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes or any OCCness.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 20**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 15**

 **Shisui: 24**

 **Kakashi: 29**

* * *

"Get lost Sasuke..." I mumbled in my pillow. I heard the click of a tongue above me and I was punched on the head. I curled up in my bed, my hands on my head. "It hurts."

"It's the point, wake up." I sighed and opened my eyes before sitting up. Sasuke was next to my bed, in his pajamas and his arms crossed on his chest. A frown was marring his face.

"What's wrong for you to wake me up at..." I looked at the clock on the nightstand, in the best hotel in Suna. "Three fifty-four in the morning?"

"There was an explosion." I yawned, my brain still half asleep.

"An explosion you say?" He nodded curtly and went to the window.

"Above the Kazekage building." I shot a look at my window. There was nothing except the clear night sky. "We should ask explanations."

"No, we should go back to sleep." He spun around to look at me with wide eyes. "We have no business with Suna internal issues."

"But..."

"Sasuke," I cut him off sharply, gazing coldly at him, making him understand there was no room to argue about this. "Tomorrow morning, we will talk to them and imply things, but not tonight. If you only saw one explosion and nothing else, then situation is most likely under control."

"What makes you say it's not the Akatsuki?" he replied with disdain.

"It would still be going on and the village wouldn't be so calm. Go back to sleep."

He shot one last look outside and left, clearly angry at my reaction. I sighed once I was alone once again and looked outside too.

It was none of our business the troubles Gaara might have with his people.

However, it could quickly become ours, and I better make it clear before we leave for the desert tomorrow.

At the crack of dawn the next day, I wasn't surprised to see Sasuke standing in front of my room. I kept quiet, locked the door and left, the Uchiha falling into steps behind me. It wasn't a long walk and I pretty much ignored the guards.

"Hey, where are you goi..."

"It's fine," a bossy female voice said to the shinobi behind us. I craned my neck to have a look at the blond kunoichi. "Why are you both such in a hurry to see Gaara so early in the morning?" I smiled politely at her, all the hours of Yagura and his advisers teaching me how the politic side of our world worked coming back.

"Well, Sasuke heard something akin to an explosion last night so I told him we would ask the Kazekage today. I also have something to discuss with him." She pursed her lips while staring at me in the eyes.

"There was a test last night, nothing to worry about," she said smoothly, "but if you must talk to Gaara, then please follow me."

"Thank you."

Gaara was as stoic as ever, calmly reading a paper. He greeted us and once Temari was gone, I walked up to his desk. I was very close to lean on it, but refrained myself.

"I won't be long. For having served a jinchuriki as a Kage I know people aren't usually fond of obeying a 'monster' like they call them. I have no interests in Suna internal issues right now, nor do I care about your motives for the Chuunin Exams. But I care about the bijuus not falling into the wrong hands. I do not wish to overstep my boundaries and create conflicts with Suna, but remember I won't hesitate to do it if I see it is necessary, with the Kazekage's authorization or not." From the look in his eyes, he was taking me seriously. "You're young and still inexperienced, so trade carefully. I don't want it to turn ugly." I stepped back. "Alright, that's all I wanted to say, please don't forbid us to come and watch the show."

"We're leaving at one in the afternoon," he stated flatly. I bowed quickly and left with Sasuke. Once we were out of the building, I sighed, a hand on my heart.

"I really thought he would kick us out at some point, knowing technically we're done here."

"You've talked to the Kazekage as if he were a child," Sasuke told me in a deadpan. "It could have been a lot worse."

"I know, but he may be your age, he's playing with the big boys now and knows it. He has his village best interests at heart, but we're here for something bigger than just a village and he knows it. I get he wanted to hide it from us, but now we know about it..." I looked up at the sunny sky. "It sucks." I turned my face to him. "Sorry about last night, if you thought I didn't care about what you said, but we have to trade carefully too."

"I know," he retorted flatly. He sighed and looked away. "It angered me, your lack of reaction, when it shouldn't have." I chuckled.

"Sometimes I make mistakes too, usually people love pointing at them." I smirked at him. "Actually, you do too." He closed his eyes.

"Someone has to tell you if your choice in men is terribly awful." Just wait for it… "I mean, nii-san wouldn't look at you like a piece of meat." Well...old Itachi certainly didn't hide it when he wanted to have some fun...and he would plead his causes with good arguments too. Before I knew it, Sasuke made a sound of disgust. "Shit, stop reading the same books as Kakashi, I don't need to know _that_." Then, he seemed to think about something. "It's not fair to know this kind of things about him but he doesn't about you."

"And he's not about to!" I cried out with a red face.

There was no need for anyone to know Itachi in every day life and Itachi in bed were two, _very_ , _utterly_ and _completely_ different men.

We were included in the Kazekage's security. It was silent, although I was focused on my manuscript. I took Jiraya-san's advice and started a book, or at least a draft of what would be a story. It was a story about two boys in a village. One was bright and alone. The other was gloomy but had his family. But one day, they disappeared. So, the gloomy boy went to look for them, in a dark, dark forest. The bright boy, his best friend, kept telling him it was not the right path, but the gloomy boy would not listen to him and kept going further in the dark forest. Hopefully, the bright boy caught him before he fall to a certain death at a cliff he had not seen because of the darkness of the forest.

It was just the rough plot of the story, I still had not found the names yet, but I liked it. I was writing the different stages of the story for now. Honestly, with how I was formulating things, it would end up as a children story, but I didn't mind.

The trip to the place of the Second Stage of the Exams was a few hours long and we arrived when the sun was down. We were led to a building, apparently just for the jounins and people supervising the Exams.

"How does it feel to be with the adults?" Sasuke didn't even look at me, just at the building in front of ours from where lights were coming.

"Next time I'll probably be back in the genin section, I really don't care right now." I raised my brows when I caught a glimpse of pink through the window.

"Do you want to say 'hi'? You can if you want to." He kept staring in front of him and slowly gazed at me.

"She needs to focus on the Exams, I would just distract her." He blushed slightly when I smirked. "And anyway, I have something to do and I can't let them distract me either."

"Right… 'them'." He glared.

"Just shut up already." I laughed, patted him on the shoulder. I was about to walk away to go to my room when there were screams outside. Shooting a glance through the window, I saw a giant scorpion holding three people, Sakura included. "Crap, Sa..." I grabbed him by the shoulder. "I need to..."

"Sasuke shut up and watch," I snapped back at him. There was...something, another chakra. "Watch." I dug my nails in his shoulder when he started fidgeting. He started to bare his teeth at me, ready to bark something at me but the scorpion was killed. "See." I squinted to have a good look at the person on top of the giant insect. Kunoichi, green hair.

It was all I needed to know.

"That's the girl," I stated sternly.

"You could have said you felt someone coming," he hissed at me under his breath.

"Maybe you should analyze a situation calmly before trying to dive into the danger like that. I'm not saying you would have lost," I added when I saw his mouth opened to reply, "but that you tend to be like me when I was younger." He snorted in disdain.

"Like what?"

"Good at making decision that saves your life at the moment without thinking of the long-time effect. Sasuke, just...I don't want to fight with you right now. You said you didn't want to distract them, then you need to keep your word and keep your distances."

I left him alone. These Chuunin Exams might be harder that expected. I thought he would be fine with having people he knew so close and that he would stay calm but…

I sighed.

It wasn't as if I wouldn't act the same but…

Before I went to bed, someone knocked on my door. I opened and blinked in surprise at Temari.

"I'm sorry, I know it's late but can we talk for a moment?" I stepped aside to let her in. She seemed nervous, and she turned toward me immediately after the door was closed and I was leaning on it. "I'm worried about Gaara."

"I am not planning on sticking my nose in your political problems." She clicked her tongue.

"I know that, I know what you told Gaara this morning Akane." No honorific? "He...Kankurō and I are worried, there is already the problem of the Akatsuki, but Gaara wants to be the bait to lure the rebels out. There was an assassination attempts last night already!" She was frustrated, but not at me.

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"You said the only reason you would intervene, with or without Gaara's consent, was if Shukaku was at risk of being taken away, right?" I nodded quietly and she looked at me with determination. "Gaara has not always controlled Shukaku, you're already aware of this. Now he's the Kazekage, trying to extract it from him could be a possible way to get rid of him." I frowned.

"Do you guy have such a technique, for you to be so sure of your words?"

"You, more than anyone, should know we are pretty good at fuinjutsu." I sighed.

"Yep I know." I raised my eyes to the ceiling. "Is there any team from Ame?"

"Wh...what does this have to do with anything I've just said!?"

"Temari, answer me." She scowled at me.

"One."

"Got it. How easily can we sneak in the exam then?" She blinked in surprise at me.

"You..."

"But you do know Sasuke and I are both from different villages. We could create a huge diplomatic incident if we're discovered, and you could be accused of treason for seeking our help." She pursed her lips.

"I know all of this, but Gaara is my little brother and is taking too many risks." I chuckled.

"Well, I couldn't agree more on the risks he's taking."

"I will signal you when you can go in the desert." Then, she raised a brow at me. "However, is it true you don't handle the heat very well?"

"Well yeah...but I can figure something out to counter it...although it might be chakra consuming, but I shouldn't stay too long in it, right?" She just stared. "Right?"

"Right," she whispered quietly with a smirk. I gaped at her.

"Temari!" She laughed and left, the door pushing me against the wall when she opened it.

At least, Sasuke would be glad to have some action.

* * *

"He didn't."

"Wait, what? Kakashi's an awesome tracker and he didn't even teach his students to _hide_?" Sasuke shrugged.

"You can make it sound as ridiculous as you wish, I don't remember doing more than what we were taught at the Academy. Sakura was good at making things to cover up our smell, and with Naruto discretion has never really been...there." I sighed. "I have my seals though, and I remember our classes on survival in extreme climatic conditions in the Academy, and yours and Dai's lessons on infiltration."

"Yeah but...come on Kakashi..." I mumbled in despair.

"We're here," Temari announced us at a gate. It was smaller and hidden from sight. "Once you're inside, just...don't die and don't be seen."

"Got it, thanks for the help."

"Don't thank me, it could very well be the last time we see each other," she replied sternly. I shrugged.

"Sure. Sasuke." He turned his eyes to me.

"You take care of Gaara, I keep an eye on Ame. No intervention unless if we're attacked." I smiled at him.

"Let's go."

Why keeping an eye on Ame? Although the girl was probably a jinchuriki, Ame was the HQ of the Akatsuki. This team...it was too fishy to leave them alone. It was better to keep an eye on the possible kidnappers than the kidnapped one.

As we ran, Sasuke and I shared a look, nodded at each other and both went on our side.

Honestly? I wasn't worried about Sasuke one bit.

I was running and sensing at the same time. However, it wasn't long until I spotted a huge brown cloud in the distance. From the look of it, it was a sandstorm. It seemed extremely violent too. I stopped running and expended my sensing as much as I could as the storm was not coming toward me, even though I could feel grains of sand flying in my face.

I couldn't sense anyone. The one thing I was feeling for sure was the dose of chakra in the storm. I couldn't sense in a huge range, only within a radius of two kilometers, but almost nothing escaped me because of Naoto's fussy nature. Right now though, it was the opposite. The storm was farther than two kilometers from me, yet it was the only thing I could sense.

I didn't like that at all. The thing was, it was still the Chuunin Exams and I was not going to make a move without any certainty.

The storm lasted for a little while. Not very long, about ten minutes, but for a jutsu this impressive to hold on for ten minutes was quite a feat in itself. I started running again the opposite direction of the storm but stopped when I saw a beam of red light.

Red chakra.

I changed direction and ran to it, hopping I wouldn't be too late. What a surprise it was to see everything seemed to be under control thanks to Team Gai. They all talked and went separate ways, leaving Gaara on his own.

"Akane-san," he called me without sparing me a look. I left the comfort of my hiding spot behind a rock and joined him.

"Can I have ten seconds to come up with a good story or…?"

"There is no need, I knew you would infiltrate the exam anyway."

"Heh, really? Wait, does it have anything to do with Naruto?" I sighed when he nodded. "But we're really not..."

"The methods may be drastically different," the Kazekage told me, making a seal with his fingers, "but the intentions do not differ that much. If you excuse me, I have something to discuss with the responsible of this situation." I nodded and looked up at the sky.

Sasuke was fine, I was sure of it, but a little part of me still worried.

After a couple of minutes, Gaara sighed and looked at me.

"There shouldn't be any problems anymore. Follow me, we'll go back to the Tower." I walked up to him and yelped when I was in the air on a platform of sand. I sat down immediately when it started moving. "What about Sasuke Uchiha?"

"I sent him to keep an eye on the team from Ame." Gaara kept staring in front of him. "So, the Exams now?"

"I'm going to cancel them. You will go to the point you entered the desert to wait for Sasuke."

"Yes Kazekage-sama," I said quietly. "What about the girl?"

"She is a jinchuriki, I will arrange a meeting before their departure." I blinked in surprise.

"Oh...oh okay, thanks."

Hum...something told me he had planned this long ago.

When we arrived, I was showed the direction I had to take to go to the entrance we used. I left without further ado. The surprise was, Sasuke was actually waiting for me.

"How come I keep arriving late?" I muttered under my breath as Sasuke jumped from his rock to the ground. "So?"

"Nothing weird, they're at the Central Tower. You?" I waved him off and he raised a brow.

"Let's just say Gaara succeeded in his risky plan and I didn't do anything. He said he'll arrange a meeting with Fū." He shot me a look of disbelief. "I'll tell you later, just keep in mind Team Gai is pretty good. I bet Neji will be more than just a chuunin, he handled the whole thing with an impressive cool head.

"Hyuuga huh..." he snorted in disdain. I rolled my eyes at the rivalry between Uchihas and Hyuugas Sasuke was showing right now. "What do we do now?"

"Don't know...someone will come to get us? Or I know the way to the Tower, so we can just go..." I sighed when he was already walking away in the desert. I ran to him. "At least, wait for me."

* * *

Her face went from cheerful to grave in the split of a second. Chōmei was pretty cool and had a good relationship with Fū as the conversation was more between the three of us unlike the other jinchurikis so far. Even with Yagura, he spoke first and then I spoke with Isobu. Her cheerfulness reminded me of Naruto.

Sasuke was wandering around somewhere as I was alone in a room with Gaara and Fū. The two jounins with her were not happy to leave her alone with us, especially me because it seemed I had a great reputation now.

Who knew, I was fine confined in my country.

"I see, so you're traveling to tell all of us?" I nodded.

"I still have Matatabi and Gyūki to talk to, I'm keeping Kurama for last." I had to find a way to explain Naruto why I could talk to the bijuus like I could. "Do you think I could have a word with your Kage? Or Chief, I don't know."

"Sure! Shibuki won't turn you down if it's about my safety!" I smiled at her enthusiasm. "You'll travel with us, it's going to be so cool! We can tell scary stories around a fire at night!" I blinked, taken back by her cheerfulness.

"Sure." She beamed at me and took my hands in hers.

"You must have gone on a lot of adventures too Akane-san, you have to tell me!" I smiled at her, slightly uncomfortable with so much attention.

"Ye...yeah, if you want to."

"I will talk to the jounins," Gaara told us as he left the room. I was grateful for him convincing the two others, but...he was totally leaving me alone with Fū on purpose. Was it his way to tell me I shouldn't have infiltrated the exams and trusted him instead?

Once this matter was settled, the jounins looking at me with distrust, I went to find the others, the girl tagging along and telling me how her aim had been to make a hundred friends.

Not gonna lie, I was relieved when I spotted Sasuke in the distance. However, as I got closer and closer, I tilted my head when I noticed the pink-haired girl with him.

"Ah, Akane-sensei, hi!" she greeted me with a smile. I smiled back and shook my head.

"You don't even need an honorific Sakura," I told her, quickly looking at her up and down. Her outfit had not changed that much from what I knew of old Sakura. She just had long baby pink gloves, reaching her elbows. It was thicker around her wrist and I quickly noticed what looked like syringes under it. "How's Tsunade-san been treating you?"

"Good, Shizune-san has been teaching me a lot about poisons too." Right, she used something like that against Haku, didn't she? "Sasuke-kun told me you have been traveling a lot?"

"Yeah," I confirmed, pulling on Sasuke's cheek. "In a year maximum I'm giving it back to you guys."

"'It'?" Sasuke repeated as he removed my hand. I sighed.

"What can I say, you were cuter as a child." Sakura chuckled.

"I hope you'll bring back something for Mikoto-san, Sasuke-kun." He sighed.

"I'll try to think about it. Don't tell her you told me this, she won't forget and if I do I won't hear the end of it." I laughed at that and brought the now silent Fū in front of me.

"We're going to Taki next, with Fū's team. This is Sasuke, my apprentice and little brother." I didn't miss the satisfaction in his eyes at 'little brother'.

"Nice to meet you!" He looked at her weirdly and shot me a look.

"Too cheerful."

"You're the one not cheerful enough!" The Taki kunoichi replied. I took a step back and Sakura did the same.

"Akane-san."

"Yes?"

"Thank you," she whispered, a gentle gaze on Sasuke. "He's...he seems in better spirits, like he found a path he wants to follow." I smiled softly.

"Well...he grew up. He hasn't found that path yet, but I have a feeling he should have found it once he's back in Konoha." As he started to bicker with Fū, much like how he would do with Naruto, I couldn't help but feel my heart warming up at the sight. "He's always been a good kid, just too easily-influenced."

"I know," she confessed quietly, "there's always been something about Sasuke-kun that made me think he could make a bad choice one day, and it was even clearer once he got that mark. Kiri...seemed to have helped him." I hummed.

"I guess."

After quick goodbyes, we left too. Although the jounins wouldn't say a word to us, Fū was good at making the conversation.

We left with an easy mind, and for me a promise to spar with Temari the next time we would see each other.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to mikan26 for the review! I'm currently dealing with applying to different master degrees, I wanna kill myself. But, I've seen Avengers Endgame. Beautiful, just...beautiful. Thor's as hot as ever.**

 **Bye!**


	72. Journey Arc: Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes or any OCCness.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 20**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 15**

 **Shisui: 24**

 **Kakashi: 29**

* * *

I ignored Sasuke's gulp when he felt his Mangekyou being unlocked by me.

"Akatsuki," I stated coldly. The jounins, Kegon and Yōrō, looked at me seriously and after a nod, one of them went to Fū.

"Let's go to that rock for now."

"Heh, it's annoying!" she complained but we all jumped out of the forest to reach a rocky plateau in a mountain.

"We don't know who you are, but we've been onto you for a while now!" One of the Akatsuki duo appeared in front of us and I frowned. They were two I had never seen before, and from what I had been told...they were Hidan and Kakuzu. Hoshigaki-san used to call them the Zombie Duo.

Oh joy. Hidan...was the one who killed Asuma-san too.

"HERETIC!" The one with silver hair shouted, pointing an accusing finger at me. "JASHIN-SAMA WON'T FORGIVE THE HERETICS!" His partner didn't even have the time to say anything that I was blocking Hidan's scythe with my club. I slid my foot back. That guy was physically strong, stronger than me.

"Get..." I started, stopping mid-sentence when I blocked another blow. "Fuck, get out of here!" I managed to throw a marked kunai to Fū before finally pushing back. I crouched, avoiding the scythe going in the wall and dropping my club, and unsealed Nuibari.

I grabbed the end of the thread, the others leaving and Kakuzu following them, threw my blade between two blades, grabbed it when it fell back and pulled. Once I had his weapon, I threw it in the forest down below.

I body flickered on the wall when he made the scythe come back to him and slashed the air where I was a moment ago.

"You fucking bitch, I'll kill you in the name of Jashin-sama! Heretics will be slaughtered!" However...it seemed like that guy wasn't the smartest one.

I made a few hand seals and said: "Hiding in the Mist Technique." I spat mist and he cursed at me.

My club still at his feet, I teleported to the mark at the back of the flower. I heard his scythe slicing the mist above me. I bit the inside of my cheek when it injured my arm but I avoided it nonetheless.

"You must be dumb as shit," I started, grabbing the metal cable between the scythe in him, "to go up against me in close combat. Dad and Hoshigaki-san told you nothing or what?" I exploded the cable and with my Wild Water Wave, threw the scythe away for good.

"What the fuck could they have told me!? Wait, 'Dad'?" Even with the mist, I stood up and deadpanned at him and his disbelieved expression.

"Ushio? I'm his daughter?" He made a stupid face, which turned into shock, and gawked like an idiot.

"You're the Bijuu Tamer Kakuzu wanted to kill to get the bounty!" I nodded and kicked him in the chest, placing an explosive seal on his rib cage. I pushed him from the plateau and made him explode. As I dispersed the mist, I looked with pity at the moron falling down.

"Well, the Akatsuki doesn't recruit on intelligence, do they?" It was anticlimactic for sure.

I grabbed my club and placed it back on my back, ready to go to Sasuke, when I felt Hidan's chakra down there. I frowned.

Zombie duo huh...I was sure my seal at least exploded a lung.

Nuibari in my hand, I made my way down thanks to the trees. I stayed in the lowest one and widened my eyes when that Hidan was getting up, complaining that he was in pain.

"Hey bitch!" he yelled at me as I jumped down. "It hurts you know!"

"No shit Sherlock." He pulled a blade like weapon from his sleeve and ran to me. I took marked kunais and threw them at him, who avoided them easily. My weapon clashed with his once again and he was a lot faster and rougher to deal with than before.

I grimaced when I felt his weapon digging in the wound on my arm. He grinned like a mad man and jumped back, making sure to place a lot of distance between us. Then, he started to trace a symbol with his blood.

Not today.

"Fuuton: High Winds Technique!" He was thrown back in the wall behind, breaking it, by the wind I had no guilt in making way stronger than usual. He stumbled forward when the jutsu stopped, but was still standing. "Okay, I get it now…you're a real pain in the ass."

"You can't kill me you bitch! And now I know you're related to that asshole Ushio, I'll take my time!" He licked the blood there was on his weapon and I frowned.

What did the book say already?

" **They do not associate with each other,** " the Nidaime reminded me calmly.

" _So...a guess on what it means?"_ I replied in my mind, watching him going back to the symbol. I threw Nuibari, that he deflected easily, but with the thread I made it go around a tree and back to him, piercing his arms and torso like butter. My blade dug itself in an another tree.

" **In any case, he licked your blood Akane,** " oji-chan pipped up. " **It can'** **t** **be good.** " Well, I couldn't agree more. I pulled back on my thread, the part in Hidan slicing him open and I pulled Nuibari back to me too. Blood poured freely from his wound and he laughed madly.

A masochist huh…

" **His partner, he tried to kill my brother in the past.** "

" **So this Kakuzu was alive back in your time?** "

" **Obviously, he failed, but he shouldn't be alive in this era. The way she called them 'Zombie Duo' is not good.** "

" _It's how Hoshigaki-san call them._ " I made other hand seals. "Hyōton: Blizzard Breath!" How I wish I had Fubuki's technique down by now, but I still didn't understand just how… "You know, I'm not even the most sadistic one in any of my teams, but somehow you woke up that side of me.

Yagura told me once. The Yuki clan was feared because they could control ice. Of course, the first thing that comes to mind was turning water in ice. It was the easiest part. However, it was not just ice, it was the coldness we controlled. I was too far from him right now, but I cooled him down enough.

The Yuki clan could freeze water.

How sad it was the human body was seventy percent water, wasn't it?

It was the main reason why we were the first clan to be slaughtered. With the cool and humid weather in the Land of Water...we were as much home with our Kekkei Genkai as the Hōzukis.

Right now...he was cold enough.

"Hyōton: Freezing Technique – Frost Spikes!" He screamed in pain when spikes of ice grew out of him. Blood was dripping from the tip of the spikes.

"I said it hurts bitch!"

"For fuck's sake, can't you just bite the dust already!?" I glared as his skin turned black and white and his grin grew wider.

"You...YOU BITE THE DUST NOW!" He stabbed himself in the heart. I widened my eyes for a second, feeling something trying to stab me in the chest but the cold energy of the Shinigami was pushing it away. I placed a hand on my heart.

Not a scratch.

'Do not associate with each other' huh...if I was immune to his weird technique like it seemed I was then…

" **Most likely, this 'Jashin-sama' he's speaking about will keep you from stealing his soul.** " I nodded at oji-chan. Yep, seemed about right.

However, Hidan's face turned scarlet in anger.

"YOU FUCKING HERETIC HOW DARE YOU IGNORE JASHIN-SAMA AND SPIT ON HIM HUH!?" I spat on the ground and it pissed him off even more, making me smirk.

"If I can't kill you...I'll just have to incapacitate you, right?"

" **You can pull off something with that sword and the Hiraishin,** " the Nidaime advised me. I hummed.

"Good idea."

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING TO YOU CRAZY BITCH!?" I threw Nuibari again and he deflected it.

However, this time, I was using the Hiraishin to follow my weapon.

"The fuc..."

Thread around his right leg. Then around his left leg, then each of his arms, then his neck. I threw Nuibari behind him and had him immobilized, the thread in one hand, my sword in the other.

"Oi, oi...you won't dare!"

"Dude, I was Karatachi Yagura's apprentice," I shot back coldly. "You have no idea of what I dare do." On this, I pulled back, slicing his limbs and head off his body in a beautiful rain of red. Some of the blood splashed on my toes.

All of the pieces fell on the ground and I sighed.

" _Sorry for the show_."

" **Kiri** ," the Nidaime said as oji-chan stayed silent. I knew he didn't like seeing me doing that but...whatever.

I walked up to the remains and stared at the head for a couple of seconds. I kept myself from groaning when he opened his eyes, a vein pulsing on his temple.

"HOW DARE YOU HUH!?" I put the top of the head on the ground, leaving me the joy to see all of the muscle, bones and veins I sliced with my thread. "JASHIN WILL..." He didn't finish this sentence I stuck my sword in the head, keeping his mouth shut. I pulled Nuibari up and stared at him in the eyes with a deadpan. He was glaring daggers at me, trying to speak.

"Take a hint when someone wants you to shut up." I teleported to a marker I had placed before and dropped the head down. Before he could say anything, I forced his mouth opened and cut off his tongue with my kunai, blood dripping from my hands by now. "Honestly, I think even the Akatsuki won't resent me for cutting your tongue off."

I went back to the body and spread the different limbs away from each other, picking up my markers at the same time. As I was leaving the first arm, I turned around when I felt lighting in the air. I had not noticed the cloudy sky before but…

"Kirin," I muttered at the dragon of lighting falling down from the sky. I unconsciously exploded the arm still in my hand, pieces of bones and flesh flying around. I felt a piece of bone grazing my cheek, making a small cut, and I dropped the rest of the bloody mess in my hand, discarding what I was doing, and joined Sasuke.

The first thing I thought of the place was: messy. One of the two jounins was lying a few meters away, clearly dead from the lack of chakra and puddle of blood around him. I shot a look back. The other jounin was hurt, holding his broken leg like he could. Fū was unconscious on the ground, some patches of skin burned. She must have lost control when the guy with curly hair died.

I looked up and frowned at the ugly wings in Sasuke's back.

Second Stage.

I spotted Kakuzu, no cloak on and a black mass limp behind him. Another went limp and Sasuke went back on the ground.

I raised a brow at the hand on the ground, black flames still burning on the weird tendrils connected to the wrist.

"Hidan lost I guess." Sasuke looked at me above his shoulder. I walked in front of him and showed Kakuzu Hidan's tongue.

"Want it back? He pissed me off too much." I threw the piece of meat on the ground, in front of him, but he ignored it. "I was hurt he didn't even recognize me."

"Nee-san, he needs to be killed multiple times," Sasuke whispered to me. "I...I had him once but..."

"Get back Sasuke, I'll take care of him." He opened his mouth but stopped himself from speaking when he saw my bloody state. I put Nuibari away.

"I am nothing like Hidan," he warned me, one of his hand reattaching itself to his arm.

"I hope so, he was dumb as shit."

"I can't say the opposite."

"So...he told me you wanted my bounty?" He stared harder and I smirked. "Come and get it then, old man." One of the black mass stepped in front of him, and the mask expelled a powerful wind. I made hand seals. "Suiton: Water Shockwave!" Water appeared out of thin air in front of me and quickly I made another seal as the water was much higher than us. "Hyōton: Freezing Technique!" It froze and I had to focus chakra in my feet to keep myself from moving. The ice was shielding us from the wind, but it blew away the trees around.

I made two shadow clones, one staying in hiding and the other going to the group to make a barrier.

Right now, I was very glad to be almost as old as a Sannin, I would have been crushed without the experience otherwise.

I climbed the ice and looked down at him once on top. I melted the ice a little on top, just under where I was, half of it turning into water.

"Suiton: Double Dragon Bullet Technique!" Two water dragons rose and attacked him. He avoided the blows and how it destroyed the ground with agility. Another beast spat out a powerful fire that destroyed the water dragons. I didn't even have the time to freeze them!

As the fire was now directed at me, I blew out my blizzard. However, I noticed lighting coming on my right side.

My clone used the High Wind Technique to counter it, but even though the lighting didn't reach me, they didn't disappear. My clone did, and the lightning beast was about to come at me until it catches fire.

Black flames. This one was down then. I watched it fall forward on the ground.

From what I had seen, each beast had an element. The lightning one was burning, the wind and fire ones were down there, next to another one. Sasuke said he destroyed one before I got there.

"You can still fight after all?" I asked Sasuke as he arrived next to me, panting heavily and his eyes bleeding. "Enough with the Mangekyou, but thanks for that one."

"I destroyed the earth one with Kirin."

"Chakra?"

"Not so much left," he admitted.

"You can throw kunais?" He nodded and I shot a look behind me. "Huh, Taki seems to have noticed the fight. You almost had that technique controlled a few days ago, right?"

"Yeah," he said, his hand in his back pouch. He pulled out a dozen of kunai out of it, each with a paper tag wrapped around the handle. "I'll master it right now." I gave him one of my marked kunai. I raised my right hand for him to high-five. He did, and I smirked when I felt him sealing a Chidori in the palm of my hand. I made another clone and gave her Umi's scroll to summon.

"Let's do this then," I said before jumping down. Once I was down, I made a Water Mirror that sent a replica of the fire beast. Burning heat whipped my face and I widened my eyes when Kakuzu was in front of me.

"I have to admit, it has been a while since I felt the thrill of fighting an Uzumaki." He grabbed my throat and raised me from the ground. My hands automatically grabbed his wrist.

I put an Immobility Seal on his limb. He widened his eye and his hand and arm detached from each other as I threw his hand away. From the corner of my eyes I saw the wind beast ready to attack as Adamantine Chains wrapped themselves around it. My clone then appeared, ready to strike, but was killed by another beast.

It was getting long. The fight was getting long.

Finally Sasuke managed to get his kunai around Kakuzu.

"Raiton: Thunder Prison!" Blue lightnings erupted from the tags, surrounding Kakuzu and already attacking the nerves. He tensed and grunted in pain. However, I couldn't teleport to him as a wave of water was coming my way.

"Hell no!" It was just, too just, but I managed to freeze it. I jumped on it. "Suiton: Wild Water Wave!" I gathered wind chakra and my water pierced through his, piercing the mask too. I body flickered and put the Chidori through this mask.

I teleported to Sasuke and watched it go limp on the ground. There were...two to go, and Kakuzu.

It was…

It was…

Sasuke dropped on one knee and I was panting. The lightnings disappeared.

"Although it is entertaining, it seems like you're both reaching your limits." Damn...I didn't have chakra seals on my arm, I had not drawn one since Yagura. I couldn't possibly use the Claw either because...because there was a weird chakra watching the whole fight.

He looked toward my ice wall. Taki was right behind it, with Fū and Yōrō. Umi disappeared and went home, her chains following and the two remaining beasts went back in Kakuzu's back.

"It's only a matter of time," he told us before running away. I caught Sasuke before he passed out on the ground.

"Why the shirtlessness?" I muttered at an unconscious Sasuke. He was shirtless.

"Are you hurt!?" some shinobi from Taki asked us as they ran as us.

"Tired," was all I managed to say. They tried to pry Sasuke from me but I adjusted his arm on my shoulders. "I'll...I can carry him."

All the way to the entrance of Taki, there were two shinobi behind me to make sure I wouldn't pass out. Then, once we arrived, there was a man around my age in front of the giant waterfall. He stared in shock at me, or more like Sasuke.

"Sasuke-san?" He looked at the shinobi. "Get them in my house and bring enough medics for all of them!"

"Yes Shibuki-sama!" So he was the chief then...He scooped Fū in his arms.

At this point, I let them take Sasuke from me and followed without a word.

* * *

"Can I come in?" I shot a quick look at Fū and nodded. She closed the door behind her and sat close to me, who was against the wall next to a sleeping Sasuke. He was exhausted, probably some ocular exhaustion too, but he wasn't too injured.

I would ask him how his vision was though.

"How is Sasuke-san?"

"Exhausted, but he'll pull through. He had worst."

"And you?" I looked at my right hand, bandaged because the Chidori burned me once again. I had a bandage around my arm too and the cut on my cheek had a band-aid on.

"Good considering the scale of this fight." I had not been in such a fight since Yagura and Obito. Although Obito had not been planned, Yagura was, and it was prepared.

This? This had not been. This had been scary and pure instinct, my brain and body working, reacting like the weapon Obito had molded me into. Now I understood why exactly he did that, I understood it more than the day he asked me to join him.

The way I fought against Hidan, how I had not bat an eye when I sliced him up…

Even today, even out of the ANBU, even with getting missions not needing a lot of fighting, I was close to be the weapon he wanted. If...if it was someone from the Akatsuki who was watching us, maybe even him then...they were probably laughing right now.

"But you've almost beat Kakuzu!"

"No," I denied. She blinked sheepishly at me. "On the moment...I thought my decisions were good and I work well with Sasuke, but he had not even used his main body. I could have used the Claw but...we were being watched." I exhaled slowly. "It was...rough, I have no idea if we could have won." I crossed my arms, the blue fabric of the kimono top I was wearing soft against my skin. The sleeves were long and wide and they had given me black cotton pants.

"So...this was the Akatsuki..." she whispered with a conflicted face. "Why...why do you tell us? About them?"

"Because no matter the time, I keep having at least one jinchuriki in my family." She gasped at that. "Because in this second chance I turned a cousin I saved from a certain death into one and hung a sword of Damocles on his back." I clenched my fists on my thighs. "Because I failed saving my Master who was one. Because I should have been one myself. Because you're not _weapons_ and why can't people just understand that?"

"People fear what they don't understand and will act accordingly to it," Sasuke said tiredly, his eyes still closed. "You told me that."

"It's annoying. How do you feel?" He opened his eyes a little.

"Tired, I can't move for now. Where…?"

"Taki, you passed out and we started to go here." He closed his eyes once again.

"I see." I raised a brow when his breathing slowed down, sign he was sleeping.

"Do you know if Shibuki read the letter?" I asked Fū, who shrugged.

"I don't know but he has been locked in his office with other important people since yesterday." He must have read the letter then but...Taki was not a big village, the stakes were not the same for it than for Suna for instance. "Are you hungry? We make a great Gyūdon in Taki!" I smiled softly at her.

"Yeah, it would be great. With sake please." I was not one to drink alcohol often but...today I needed this.

"Okay!"

Two more days went by, where the most I saw from outside was from our balcony. Taki was definitely the most beautiful village I had ever seen. It was not big and was built around an immense tree, the scenery being just green and full of life and nature. It was a lot more peaceful and quiet than Konoha for instance, which was full of life and animation, even at night.

Sasuke ended up able to stay awake after three days spent sleeping and eating half-asleep. The good thing was, now he was in great shape.

"Shibuki-sama," I greeted him as Sasuke and I entered his office, Fū next to us against the wall.

"Uzumaki-san, Sasuke-san, please sit." We did and right away, I took note of the exhaustion and nervousness on his face. "I have read the letter you gave me and had a long talk with my advisers concerning its contents. I have to admit some of them are skeptical as we are not a part of any of the Five Great Nations. They think this may be a hidden way to pressure and control us."

"What do you think then?" I asked him flatly.

"I disagree." I looked at him in surprise. "A couple of years ago, Konoha and Sasuke-san's team in particular helped me and Taki through a difficult time. I doubt it would have changed so much in such a short amount of time. The attack you suffered from a few days ago and Kegon's death cannot make me agree more with you."

"Do you accept I take a loot at Fū's seal?" He nodded and got up.

"Please do, you are free to walk around the village as you please. I need to contact the Hokage, I will make you come back."

Once we were outside, Fū insisted to make us visit the village.

"So, you went here before?" Sasuke shrugged.

"We were hired to escort Shibuki and a coup happened on the same day, just when Kakashi had left us on our own."

"I see." We stopped near a beautiful lake illuminated by the sunlight piercing the foliage of the trees. It was otherworldly. "Okay, Sasuke, I will be busy with Fū but it doesn't mean I won't take care of you. We're going to take it to two hundred percent now, you can follow?" He scoffed smugly.

"I was waiting for it." I smirked and made a shadow clone. As I wasn't wearing my heals, Sasuke and I were basically the same height, me still having a couple of centimeters on him.

It wouldn't be for long though.

"We...are going to use a different training method starting now. I'll use it myself on the road to improve my fuinjutsu faster"

"How so?"

"Damn," I sighed, "Naruto's gonna hate me for it."

"The Shadow Clone Jutsu then?" he concluded and I nodded. "How does it make progress faster?"

"You'll see once you can do the technique. Time to get to work people. Fū, lay down."

At least, in all of this, we had beautiful surroundings.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to nevvy for all of their reviews. Good to see you're still around ! x)**

 **Bye!**


	73. Journey Arc: Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes or any OCCness.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 20**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 15**

 **Shisui: 24**

 **Kakashi: 29**

* * *

"You understand?" I dodged his kunai. "Come on Sasuke!"

"Take back what you said about nii-san." I grinned at him.

"I don't think it and you know it. But you understand why I want you to use the Shadow Clones Technique now?" He grumbled a 'yes' and I went back to Fū. "Anything weird with your seal?"

"Nothing out of ordinary!" I nodded in satisfaction and sat down.

Hiraishin...make it universal for anything…

We were interrupted by a jounin asking us to go to Shibuki's. When we arrived, he was pacing nervously in his office. He was startled when we arrived and sent us a troubled smile.

"Hi everyone, please sit!" We did and I was handed a letter. I frowned and accepted it when I saw Konoha emblem. My eyes scanned it quickly and I was left speechless for a second, before looking at Shibuki. "It is authentic."

"I know, it's just..." I trailed off, folding the paper when I felt Sasuke's curious eyes. "We will leave tomorrow then."

"Fū," Shibuki started and the teenager looked at him with curious eyes, "tomorrow, you will leave with Uzumaki-san and Sasuke-san, they will escort you to a meeting point with shinobi from Konoha who will bring you over there until the threat of the Akatsuki is over." She blinked in confusion at him.

"But, Shibuki-sama, I live here." He sighed.

"Please understand this, it's for your own safety." She lowered her eyes and clenched her jaws.

"Of course Shibuki-sama." Without another word, she got up and left. With a sign of the head, I told Sasuke to follow her, which he did with a roll of his eyes.

"You do realize what's happening, right?" I asked him rather rudely with a frown. He kept staring at the door and sighed.

"I do, some of my advisers are against it. Taki having a jinchuriki placed the village in a position where it was taken seriously by the big nations." I stopped being on my knees as it was uncomfortable and sat cross-legged instead.

"I understand where you're coming from, she will probably be more protected in Konoha than in Taki but...but there's no way she'll come back here. The higher-ups in Konoha won't allow it." Old geezers who should die, thank God Danzou was dead. "Did you get money out of her?" He glared daggers at me and I sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm stepping over the line here."

"Please make sure she reaches Konoha and protect her."

"We will do our best," I said before getting up. "Was it all?"

"Yes."

The next day, Sasuke and I waited in front of Taki while Fū was saying her goodbyes. For the first time in the three weeks I had known her, she was dead silent.

"Here's the plan. The meeting point is at the limit of Konoha territory, one of these towers surrounding the village in the forest around it. We'll meet a team at the South Tower in five days, at noon. Knowing we have time, I thought we could stop by the capital city of the Land of Fire."

"What do you want to do in Kikou of all places?"

"Well, some tourism maybe? It's been a while since I've really been in the Land of Fire and usually I just go straight to Konoha. Anyway, after we'll be heading to the Land of Lightning." I seriously needed to prepare what I was going to say to the Raikage.

Not that...he was the one raising my bounty. He was the one who tried to kidnap me after the Chuunin Exams because he saw my potential. I had no idea if he wanted me dead or just among his shinobi, but in any case, if I had managed to catch his eyes when I was twelve, me coming willingly to his village with a special delivery should interest him, right?

Plan B would be flirting with Darui. I went on a date with him _before_ and to be fair, I had a great time so maybe my youthful charms would get to him?

We walked in silence until a small village near a river in the Land of Fire. What was it now, end of January? My birthday was in what, three months now? I would turn twenty-one/forty-five.

"Fū, are you okay?" I asked as we were taking a break, Sasuke training his Chidori Nagashi whereas his clone was working on his Thunder Prison.

He never used more than two clones at once.

"Yeah, yes I'm fine!" she answered quickly with a fake smile. "I'm just wondering how Konoha will be! I'll make friends, right?" I smiled.

"Well, Neji and his team, you met them when you and Gaara were in a bad situation." She stared at me and her smile became real. She jumped on her feet.

"Really!? That's awesome! We'll eat yakiniku together!"

"Su..." I was interrupted by a man yelling. We all turned around to the dirt road behind us.

"I'm innocent! I would never try to assassinate our Daimyo!"

"You'll tell that to the witnesses then," the man holding the man's hands in his back replied. I gaped at him as they walked without seeing us, my eyes never leaving them.

They stopped and the man controlling the other one turned around and looked at us with a frown marred on his face. He stared for a long while, in which I stopped gaping and just waited for his brain to under…

"Akane!" I chuckled and got up and to join.

"It took you a while Shisui," I replied with a smile. I casually placed an Immobility Seal on his victim and hugged my friend. He hugged me back after a second.

"I wasn't expecting to see you so I needed a minute to understand." I moved back and he smiled at me, then at Sasuke who was approaching us with Fū. "Hey Sasuke, you grew up!"

"Yeah...what's that?" I raised a brow at Sasuke pointing Shisui's hip with his finger, and widened my eyes at the symbol of the Twelve Guardian Ninja.

"I thought it was not a thing anymore."

"It wasn't until recently. This guy tried to kill the Daimyo so I tracked him down. To answer you Sasuke, I've been a part of the Twelve Guardian Ninja for half a year now. We're basically the Daimyo's bodyguards." Then, his eyes found Fū. "I don't know you." Fū slid between us to stop in front of Shisui and grabbed his hands in hers before shaking them vigorously.

"My name is Fū and my dream is to make a lot of friends! Do you want to be my friend?" I chuckled behind my hand at Shisui's panic and Sasuke smirked.

"Sure?" He noticed her hitai-ate. "Taki? Thinking of it, you don't wear your forehead protectors you two?"

"You don't know," Sasuke stated flatly. "We're traveling."

"When was it...four months ago, sensei relieved me of my functions to give me the same status as Jiraya-san and I was given a mission as a Seal Master. Sasuke is with me as my apprentice."

"I see. Where are you heading then?"

"Oh, the last destination: the Land of Lightning." He gawked like an idiot. "Relax, we're stopping by Kikou before, we have to drop Fū at a meeting point with Konoha."

"I feel like there is an explanation behind all this but it's not the place nor time for that. So you're not here because of the meeting?"

"What meeting?" I inquired with a raised brow.

"Between the Daimyo of this country and the one from your country Akane."

"Uryu-sama moved his ass out of Kiribukai?" It attracted me funny looks. "I mean...my dear Daimyo deigned come all the way from Kiribukai?" The oldest Uchiha laughed as he grabbed his victim.

"Pretty much, with his daughter and an escort including two Swordsmen."

"Well, that's interesting."

* * *

"A lot of things have happened, that's for sure," Shisui commented idly, a spoon of ice cream in his mouth. "Here I thought I had been busy."

"The Twelve Guardian Ninja is a big thing. Although, I was surprised when Kakashi told me you left Konoha for a long-term mission, with Itachi and his condition." Shisui sighed, his cheek in his palm.

"I made sure he would be okay before accepting, I needed to get out too." I looked down at the crumbs of the strawberry pastry, now in my stomach, in my plate. "Still, you encountered the Akatsuki way too many times in these past few months whereas they're still keeping a low profile."

"Tell me about it..." I sighed deeply. "Still, I enjoy traveling."

"I'm sure you do, but...Akane, where did Sasuke get that scar?" The scar Taiga gave him wasn't thick, but much whiter than the rest of his skin, and long too.

Wait, Taiga. I paled, which Shisui noticed immediately.

"It's...It's..."

"Don't tell me if it's painful to remember," he interrupted me with worried eyes.

How could I tell him his brother turned into a crazy murderer and I actually died by Sasuke's hands because of him? How could I tell him we had his remaining eye and he could get the Eternal Mangekyou in only one of his eyes? How could I tell him Taiga was locked up for the rest of his life on another continent I wasn't even allowed to talk about?

"Can I at least know why you decided to tell him?" I took a deep breath, my eyes finding Sasuke and Fū outside.

"I was stuck in a position where he wouldn't let it go. But, I mean...he can handle it."

"Hum...if there is one thing I've noticed is that he seems...not as confused as before." I raised my brows at him. "I mean, Sasuke tended to have that look in his eyes when nobody looked at him and his achievements, almost as if he didn't see the point in improving if it wasn't the please the eyes." I chuckled. "What?"

"Nothing, I've pretty much told him this very thing when I was taking him back to the Resistance three years and half ago. Apart from your mission, how have you been?"

"Me? Hum...well...I'm seeing someone..." I deadpanned at him.

"Aren't you always?" He looked scandalized.

"Hey! When you say it like this you're making me sound like someone unable to keep a relati...whatever," he mumbled under my stare. "I think it's serious this time."

"Don't you always?" I muttered flatly.

"I mean it this time! She's...she's different and I think less of you!" I flushed at how loud he was, and he did the same, ducking his head at the stares he was receiving. "It's so embarrassing..."

"Well, if you're moving on, it's good," I managed to say, my face going back to normal. "Just...be careful of who you choose." He smiled softly, but his eyes were staring at his cup of coffee.

"Yeah...don't worry about it." Shisui's smiles had always been beautiful but...this one was for this new girl in his life whereas…

It used to be for me.

Now I felt a little bit stupid. I asked him to move on, he said he would, it was normal. I just...I thought it would take longer. It had been almost two years since the Resistance but…

Damn, was I playing the jealous ex-girlfriend when we never dated because _I_ said 'no'? Because it wouldn't do, I had no right to do that.

"Hey." I raised my head to Sasuke, now next to our table. "There are people getting excited it town. I think they arrived."

"Oh rea..."

"Shisui-kun!" I looked at the man walking casually to us, his demeanor screaming self-confidence. My eyes were mesmerized by the golden threads on the collar of his red kimono, forming irises, the flower themselves being of a deep purple. "My, my, I understand a pretty lady cannot resist the charm of a shinobi but you have a duty."

"My apologies Akihito-sama, Akane is an old friend of mine and I didn't realize how late it was." 'sama'?

This Akihito gave me a long stare and ended up sending me a charming smile.

"Oh I see, it's good to have friends. Akane-chan, right? Are you from Konoha too?"

"Akihito-sama," Shisui called him sternly and the guy pouted. "I am sure your father..."

"I know! But you could at least introduce me!"

"Akane, this is Akihito-sama, the son of the Daimyo." He had assurance, sure, but his hair was a dark brown, long and braided on his shoulder, his bangs parted on the right, and his eyes were small and of a very deep blue. He was cute, but other than that… "And she is not from Konoha or this country."

"My, oh my," he purred, delicately grabbing my right hand to kiss my knuckles, "I shall make sure our relations with our neighbors are good once I am the Daimyo, if they hide such pretty ladies..." He winked and I couldn't help but blushing at the overflow of attention. "On this, we have to go. Sorry Akane-chan, but your friend loves bossing me around."

"It's not bossing you around if your father asked for it," Shisui muttered and they left. Fū sat on Shisui's chair and Sasuke brought back one.

"Should I worry about the political future of my country?" Sasuke asked to no one in particular.

I didn't respond. Meeting with Shisui was unexpected...getting hit on by the prince of the Land of Fire even more.

* * *

"Akane!" the brat screamed when I was authorized in their suite. Kasumi, the Daimyo's only daughter, and child, still had these two long and thick blond pigtails on her head and big hazelnut eyes. Where there used to be disdain was now...respect?

"Yo Uzu!" Suigetsu greeted me with a grin, Chōjūrō next to him. "What are you doing here?"

"It's a coincidence, we just happen to stop by a village nearby, saw Shisui and we came here. We leave in a few days and then, en route for the Land of Lightning." Suigetsu gaped and Chōjūrō stared in shock.

"Wait, seriously!? Didn't you piss off the Raikage after your Chuunin Exams!?" I scratched my cheek with an ashamed smile.

"He must have forgotten it by now..." I noticed Kasumi staring at my club. "Is there something wrong Kasumi-sama?"

"It was Yagura's," she stated firmly. "Why do you have it now?" My left eye barely twitched.

"Kasumi," the voice of the Daimyo, Uryuu-sama, resonated in the room when he entered it. Except for his daughter, we all bowed to him.

"Uryuu-sama." He told us to straighten up and shot me a disinterested look.

"I do hope your trip is enjoyable, because it sure can get hectic back home." I smiled politely at him.

"It is indeed." I followed him to the living-room, where I sat in front of him and was poured a cup of expensive Oolong tea with a tint of lemon in it, specialty of the Land of Water. "If it is not indiscreet," I started as Kasumi sat next to her father, "are you here to sign a commercial agreement?"

"I am. Signing an agreement with the Land of Fire is advantageous, but could also open discussions about treaties with the Land of Wind too." I nodded, sipping quietly on my tea, my back straight as a ramrod. I listened with attention, giving my opinion when I was asked for it.

Unlike what Dai might say to be annoying, I knew how to act accordingly to the situation. I was just trying to avoid situations where I had to stay quiet because I was a woman as much as I could.

Although, the Daimyo had to take women seriously now.

After a nice conversation, where he was implicitly asking me how the countries I visited were politically speaking, I was allowed to leave. I did, with a bow, and told my ex-students goodbye. I was a few meters away from their suit when the fourteen-year old blond stopped me by grabbing my arm.

"Kasumi-sama?"

"Father said yes, you have to find a place and train me in self-defense again!" I sweat dropped. She had not changed that much after all, still giving orders at people.

We ended up near a lake in the woods next to the city. It was calm for a dozen of minutes until an obnoxious voice called me. I rolled my eyes and gazed at...what was his name again, Akihito?

"What are you ladies doing here on your own?" he asked us with a grin.

"Just some self-defense Akihito-sama." He raised his brows and shot a look at Kasumi. His grin disappeared just as Kasumi cleared her throat discreetly.

"Kasumi-dono."

"Akihito-dono." My eyes went back and forth between the two. The atmosphere...was tensed.

"So, Akihito-sama," He turned his eyes to me, "what brings you here?"

"Oh, I was just walking around. There is so much political talks at my palace it got suffocating."

"Don't bother us," my 'charge' hissed. Akihito narrowed his eyes. I stepped away a little when he replied something snarky and looked around.

Huh…

I had a bad feeling.

It was confirmed when my eyes caught the flash of a kunai in the air. I grabbed one and threw it to deflect it. The two heirs stopped their nonsense. Funny enough, as much as Akihito-sama was by now clearly scared, Kasumi-sama was more...calm and in a defensive position.

"Akane, that's..." I made two clones.

"Assassination attempt." I summoned Nuibari and followed the chakra I was feeling.

It was not hard to find. The fight was so easy it was not even worth mentioning in details. I immobilized the culprit, summoned Seihistsu and he carried the man as we walked back to the two heirs.

There was a man down, but Shisui was the one to hold him down.

"I'm not here to do your job Shisui," I reminded him sternly as he spotted us.

"Sorry, unlike their strength in a fight they were smart enough to trick us." He got up. "You haven't been hurt?" I scoffed.

"Are you trying to wound my pride?" He rolled his eyes and a faint smile on his lips.

"Of course not." He looked at Akihito. "What were thinking, going out like this on your own?"

"I hate being watched and followed like a brat." Yet, this kind of behavior was one of a brat. I looked down at Kasumi who was trying to pry Nuibari from my hand.

"No. Touching." She sighed, deflated.

I didn't really understand, or care for that matter, of what was happening. Shisui asked us to follow them, which we did, and during the walk back to the city, I gazed at Akihito.

Thinking about it…

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire _before_...didn't have a son.

Hopefully, I'd be able to leave quickly.

I knew technically, having saved someone's life, it wasn't a case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time but...to me it was for sure.

* * *

"Although I thank you dearly for saving Kasumi's life, you have gotten yourself in quite a situation Akane-kun." I blinked in confusion as Kasumi's eyes sparkled at the sight of Sasuke. Fū was introducing herself to my students.

"I...I'm sorry?" He sighed deeply.

"I still remember the Mizukage's reaction when Konoha asked you to serve them, I fear she might explode this time around." I sat in front of him. "The Daimyo's son, Akihito, somehow was impressed by your skills and deduced you were important from your presence with my daughter. Hence, his father asked me information about you."

"Will I like where this is going?"

"I doubt it, he wants you to marry his son." I choked on nothing but air.

"W...what!? But...I was protecting Kasumi-sama, he just happened to be there!"

"I'm fully aware of that, but it is not something I can just say to them in our situation. To be honest, I'm afraid they might require your hand to accept this _very important_ agreement."

"That guy is just as his reputation describes him," Kasumi-sama hissed, Sasuke finally putting some safety distance between them. She smiled sweetly at him for a second, not offended but finding this amusing instead. Then, she joined us. "He's the kind of man to check out women for their physic and then see if they have a 'princess' value. By this, I mean shutting up and staying in his shadow. He did that with at least three other women, I bet he will start commanding you the second it is signed."

"I don't even want to know how you know this," he father signed. "Akane-kun, you understand, more than anyone else, this accord has to be signed."

"Of course but...I mean…"

"Father, you can't be serious!" his daughter cried out, jumping on her feet. "Aka-chi is more than just a baby factory!" The nickname was new.

"There is too much at risks."

"There must be another way for that stupid face to..."

"Consider yourself lucky it was not you," Uryuu-sama scolded her coldly.

As they started to argue, I left the room to get some air. The worst was, if the Daimyo agreed, I didn't have a word to say, I was to obey, end of the story.

I mean...I...I couldn't get married! It...It was…

"Akane-chan!" I turned around and shot that stupid Akihito my darkest glare. He laughed it off as if it was nothing. "I'm guessing you have been told of the proposal?"

"Why...just...why me!?"

"Well, I personally find your gorgeous, even if these two teeth you have filed will need some correction." I instinctively placed my hand on my mouth. "You're strong too, efficient much like Shisui-kun, and from what I learned about you, you know your fair share about politics." He grinned maliciously at me, the grin someone who knew perfectly well how to get what he wanted would sport.

"You know how important this accord is and you made sure Uryuu-sama wouldn't say 'no'."

"After the 'Bloody Mist' and how desperate he is for putting his country back on track, you could say that. See, smart too!" I glared harder at him, on the verge of baring my teeth at him. "And, I've heard how feisty women from the Uzumaki clan can be. I'm sure you're a good lay." I widened my eyes at how inappropriate he was, how casual he was when saying this. It was not as if I hadn't heard this before, or worse even, but he...he was supposed to be…

"That's enough," Shisui said, grabbing his wrist as he was about to take a strand of my hair. I took a step back, moving closer to Shisui who actually came out of nowhere.

"Heh...Shisui-kun, it's really none of your business."

"I'm sorry Akihito-sama, I obey your father first and foremost. Implying such things is out of the line."

"Is that jealousy animating your actions?" I shot a look at Shisui. I knew him well, so I noticed immediately when a nerve was hit. I wrapped my fingers around his arm and made him let go of Akihito. He rubbed his wrist. "Well, I think I'm not welcomed here anymore. I'll see you later Akane-chan!" He turned around and left. I sighed.

"You're not gonna be in trouble right?" Shisui just kept staring at the empty spot where Akihito used to stand. "Hey Shisui, he's gone now." He lowered his head and looked at me.

"He didn't do more than just talking, did he?" he asked me hoarsely. I shook my head and he pulled me against his chest abruptly. I hugged him back tightly. "You're not the first, he proposed to three other women and called it off because they were not amusing enough. He...he's not a bad guy, or even mean, he's the biggest macho you'll ever meet though, he really takes women for entertainment."

"Everything I love in a man." Burying his face in the crook of my neck, I shivered when I felt his breath against my collarbone as he chuckled. After a couple of seconds, he moved back and our eyes locked in each others. I smiled faintly and he took a deep breath.

Of course, it didn't last as Sasuke called us. It was good though, because he had someone so...no ambiguous moments would be appreciated.

Sasuke eyed us suspiciously.

"Did I interrupt something?"

"Nothing, what did you want?" Shisui replied quickly. The younger Uchiha stared at him for a solid second before looking at me.

"You can't get married, you're taken already moron." I raised my brows and widened my eyes when I understood the implication. It disappeared though, because Sasuke…

"How do you know about that!?" He shrugged.

"Father's seals aren't all that great." I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose.

"What am I missing?" I grinned at Shisui, ready to ask him to marry him for the sake of getting out of Akihito's radar, but I refrained myself from doing so. He...he was with another girl Akane, stop...stop treating him as if he was at your disposal!

"I...remember that time when Fugaku-san came to my house?"

"Yeah?"

"I accepted an engagement to your clan to calm down your elders." Sasuke rolled his eyes, muttering an 'idiot' under his breath as Shisui stared blankly at me.

Very slowly, he gaped at me and grabbed me by the shoulders to shake me.

"Are you insane!? This is stupid, you can't do that for us! It's too much you idiot! You've done enough, don't you realize that!?"

"Shisui, I do now," I grumbled and slapped his hands away. "At the time...it was the last thing to do to ensure some stability between you guys and the village." His eyes were still conflicted.

"Akane...you shouldn't have done that. You're not an Uchiha and you're not from Konoha, it's...it's just turning you into a pawn for the two." I looked down.

"Yeah, I know." However, it was not as if I would give the babies they wanted me to give them.

"Anyway, it may be the one case where her mistake will be of some use." Shisui and I raised our brows at Sasuke, who smirked at me. "Akane, marry me."

We could have heard a pin drop.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to nevvy and realfan16 for their reviews. **

**Bye!**


	74. Journey Arc: Final

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes or any OCCness.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 20**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 15**

 **Shisui: 24**

 **Kakashi: 29**

* * *

"It's..."

"You're speaking now?"

"Shut up you," I growled at Shisui, who snickered. We were in Sasuke's hotel room. "It's not as if it was just something he comes up with everyday! It's...wrong!"

"What's so wrong in there?" Sasuke asked me with a frown. I face palmed.

"You call me 'nee-san', everything is wrong about it."

"The idiot won't let go, do you have another idea?" I turned my head away from the two Uchihas' inquisitive look. "Exactly. And anyway, nothing will happen until I'm eighteen, we'll have time to find a loophole in the contract or, worst-case scenario, find a way to divorce."

"It would be hard, our clan does not like marrying strangers and if you do, you're exiled from the clan. Izumi's mother moved back in the compound only after her husband died in the Kyuubi attack. Akane would need to leave Kiri, and if the Elders of the our clan are the ones behind this marriage they probably have been very careful about the contract."

"She doesn't necessarily need to move from Kiri. I'm not the heir and I've lived there for a while, I could just move back." I grabbed my cup of tea and drank it down in one go. Did it burn? Yes. Did it make me forget how these two were planning a wedding? No.

"Tsunade-san was convinced after all..." To convince her, he had been pretty smart. He used his name and the fact he was from Konoha to his advantage. As he was an Uchiha and Obito had controlled Yagura, but as he was also a shinobi from Konoha, it was a peace offering in a way. And depending on Sasuke's performance in Kiri, it would have an impact on how the Uchihas were seen and the trust between them and Konoha.

"Akane." I looked at Shisui in wonder. "You shouldn't call her '-san'. I get Mizukage-sama is your sensei, but Tsunade-sama..."

"Shisui, we're related," I cut him off casually. He froze and blinked several times.

"Wait what!?" he screamed as he jumped on his feet. "But...how...you never told me!"

"Hey, it's not as if...I didn't know until she became the Hokage! My Dad and her are related like Naruto and I, turns out Uzumaki Mito is a lot closer in my family tree through him that I thought she would be!"

"It means the Shodai is in it too?"

"Well yeah but...I'm not related to him."

"It doesn't matter, it cannot leave that room." I blinked at him.

"You think the Elders would force her to stay in Konoha?" Sasuke inquired. Shisui nodded.

"Not just that. I mean...I wouldn't be surprised if you had an upgrade in your fiancee either."

"Itachi has to have babies with 'pure' blood." Someone really had to explain to me how incest...eurk.

"It doesn't matter. Unless you suddenly become the Mizukage, they would push for an engagement between you and Itachi to seal peace once and for all between us and the powers in Konoha."

"Not good either." I took my chin between my fingers as Shisui sat back down, his legs crossed and his hands flat on his thighs. I raised my eyes to Sasuke. "I will never admit your idea is good."

"It's not good, it's the least worst."

"I should have let him die..."

"Don't say that, it would have been on me." I glared at Shisui, who chuckled nervously. "Of course, now you're...pretty much engaged but..." He stopped talking when he noticed my glare getting darker and darker at each of his words.

"How do you know it would work?"

"Believe it or not, Kasumi seems horrified at the idea of a woman still seen as an object, especially you as she knows you, and asked me to help her find a way to get you out of the situation your, I quote, 'stupidity put you into'." The brat.

"With the history between the clans and the importance it would have for Konoha and Kiri, and then on the two countries, it could work. It would be more advantageous for you two to get married than just Akane and Akihito-sama."

"Isn't there a scenario where I _don't_ get married?"

"We don't have the time to find a solid one except this, the signature is tomorrow." I sighed, defeated.

Needless to say, Akihito's disbelieved face was the only good thing about this whole ordeal Uryuu-sama had to present. He tried to come up with something, but none of his arguments could win against shinobi ones. At some point, Shisui winked at me confidently and I lowered my head.

It was not…

" **You were counting on Shisui-kun** ," oji-chan's voice told me in my head.

" **Of course I was counting on him, I don't see Sasuke as a man! I mean...yes but not as a man man, not as one I could flirt with because...eurk!** "

" **Do you really think it would have been a good thing though?"**

" **I...I mean...it's just...** " He chuckled and I ducked my head even more, hoping my hair would hide my flushed cheeks.

Please be this situation to end soon.

I hated it. I hated too much attention of me. I was fine being under the radar.

After a quick hug to Shisui and me punching him in the shoulder at the 'cousin' he whispered in my ear, we left to drop Fū near Konoha.

"Take care guys! And I won't say a word about this thing!" I waved weakly at her, half sulking as we left with Sasuke.

"You're mad."

"I'm depressed. My life is a joke."

"Thanks."

"I can't see you like that!"

"Thanks," he repeated dryly. I rolled my eyes.

"Inability to have children is a reason to divorce?"

"If it's a clause in the contract I guess."

"You do realize in what situation you put us in for your clan?" He stopped in his track, his eyes set on the road.

"He wouldn't have given up on his stupid idea."

"Sasuke..."

"I'm not happy about the situation either," he finally admitted, ruffling his hair. "I...I guess I panicked a little too." I stared at him for a couple of second and sighed.

"At least it's you and not a royal stranger."

* * *

"Sasuke."

"Hum?"

"How many weapons do you have left?" I asked him as I stopped our training. He let his clone continuing and scattered what he had in his pouch. There was not a lot anymore, be it weapons or basic medicine and shinobi stuff in general. "Great," I muttered as I did the same. I didn't have a lot left either, even in my scrolls.

"We haven't bought anything for a while after all," he commented, inspecting the blunt blade of a kunai.

"Placing sealing tags on weapons always means destroyed weapons during the testing phases. We need to find a store but...well, you know the area better than me Sasuke." He pulled a map from the country from his pouch and opened it between us.

"Here." He put his finger on a spot near the Land of Hot Water, just under it and above the Land of Wave. "It's Sora-ku. Expensive, but at least Nekobaa sells only good quality."

"Nekobaa?" I repeated. "Isn't she your weapons supplier? Well, the Uchihas'?"

"Yeah."

"Oh good, let's go then. I won't even pay for anything."

"You're not stealing," Sasuke warned me sternly. I deadpanned.

"Of course not." He raised a brow to tell me to explain further. I raised my forefinger like a teacher explaining something to a kid. "I'm making your father paying for it." He slightly gaped at me.

"You'd be better off stealing." I shook my head.

"I'm your clan's Seal Master, I haven't touched my salary since I left Konoha, and it wasn't nothing I did on Itachi. I'll make him deduce the price of the weapons from the money he owes me." Sasuke made a weird face. It was probably the idea of his father _owing_ someone, especially me, money.

"I see."

We hit the road the next morning. It was February by now, Jiraya-san and Naruto should go back to Konoha soon, then Tsunade-san would send us a message to tell us to go too. Soon...We had already encountered the Akatsuki once, but soon everything would really start.

This time, I would be thrown in it. But Itachi, although still not able to fight, and Shisui, and the Uchiha clan in general were on Konoha's side too. It was reassuring.

" _I'm terrified. I swear if the Fourth Shinobi War happens this time around, I'll shit my pants if I'm face to face with Madara._ "

" **Understandable, you don't stand a chance.** "

" _Geez, thanks Tobirama._ "

" **It's '-sama' to you** **young lady.** "

" _It's 'Yurei-sama' to you then old man._ " He scoffed and I grinned.

It took us a day to reach Sora-ku. Sasuke kept progressing, him wanting to focus more on kenjutsu when we were training together, and I finally figured out a way to keep my hand from being burned when I released the Chidori. It was good.

"It's...lovely," I muttered at the abandoned city. "Not gloomy at all..."

"You're from the Bloody Mist," he reminded me sternly. I raised my eyes to the cloudy sky.

"Still." I rummaged through my pouch and gave a list to Sasuke. "Please?"

"You'll get lost."

"I'll teleport to you." He grunted and snatched it out of my hand. "Thank Sas-chan!" He glared.

"Stop that!"

"What, Kasumi can and I can't?" I pouted as I left him fuming behind.

To be fair, I was ninety-nine percent sure there were a lot of black market sells in this town. Spending years under Yagura's tutelage gave me like a seventh sense when it came to illegal shit. I walked quietly through the silent streets of Sora-ku, people staring at me without uttering a word when I walked past them.

It was very uncomfortable. It was almost as if I was a guinea pig among mad scientists ready to start the experiences for a crazy new invention. I stopped in front of a red sign with 'SEALS FOR A GOOD DEALS!' written in bright, bold golden letters.

Did they really write down 'a good deals'? If they couldn't get their slogan right, I was scared for the quality of their seals. I went in, coughing a little at the dust gathering on the shelves of each sections. There was not a lot, but still. I went quickly through the seals. As I had thought, they were bad quality. A line too thick, smudged ink, a millimeter too short or too long and instead of a functioning seal you had an explosion in your face.

Sasuke knew that all too well by now.

I raised a brow and took several steps back before leaning over a particular seal. It was old, that much was obvious, and I grabbed it. It was...a complicated one. Oh wait no...it was just in old fuin. Right now, I couldn't really make out what the purpose was, but I could understand it had something to do with the brain.

"Ha, we have a specialist I see!" The shadow of the owner, added to the weak light the naked flickering bulb dangling from the ceiling, obstructed my analysis. "Very old seal you got here, very good too. The guy was young at the time, young family man he was when he sold me his creations to feed his family." I turned the paper over. Nothing behind, not even a signature, as if the 'guy' didn't want people to know he was sealing good seals in that kind of place. "Kind of pathetic sometimes, complaining 'bout his kid dying." I froze.

"Dying?"

"Yeah, the guy kept whinin' 'bout not finding his cousin. He even said he'd pay her debts."

"I'll take it."

"Heh? It's expensive girl, it's my last one. I can't get an..."

"I'll make you a seal."

"It's not tha..." He stopped when noticed the club on my back. He paled drastically, his hollow cheeks becoming white and making his dark eyes popping even more. "Take it, take it and leave!" he suddenly yelled like crazy. I stared at him in disbelief.

"What the..."

"Please leave and don't come back! Don't kill me! I'll give the money back!" He almost kicked me out of his store and locked the door behind me.

He saw the club. I walked away quickly. He saw the club and panicked, he saw Yagura in that.

The seal though...I found myself a dark spot in a dark alley and sat down in the dirt, going to the space where I would see Minato.

He was concerned.

"Oji-chan..."

"It's your father's seal, I could recognize his writing everywhere." We both pursed ours lips. "It's...not that surprising. Seals can be sold at a very good price and it's close to where you used to live..."

"Oji-chan, it's...I can't deal with this just now," I whispered in a quivering voice, glad the Nidaime was leaving us some privacy for once. "Just...specialists have specialties. I'm a Seal Master specialized in the chakra system and everything related to it, a little bit in the medical field and infiltration seals but...Dad..."

"Mind." I widened my eyes, my hand now firmly pressed against my left eye. "He...he's specialized in mind seals, like Kakashi suffered from back then."

"The brain is way too sensitive to be...oh God, it's terrifying, he's stronger than Yagura was, isn't he?"

"I...wouldn't be surprised." I knelt on the ground, my lips stuck in a frightened grin. "Akane..."

"I...he...he has to be dealt with at some point. I doubt anyone without a serious fuinjutsu training can kill him." Minato dropped on one knee in front of me. "It's...of course, it's so obvious when you think about it. There's a compensation for everything I've changed, I have to carry this weight on my shoulders only. He...Dad took Itachi's place. Sasuke and he won't fight to death but...but a fight to the death still has to happen." I screw my eyes shut as oji-chan embraced me tightly. "I...I'll face Dad one day and...I know I won't get out of it alive. I just know it."

"Akane..."

"How could I not see this earlier? I mean...he resurfaced, it's obvious I'm the one who has to deal with him once and for all, isn't it? Mind seals are just...he touches me I'm dead. It's...I just have to drag him down with me."

"You're talking about your death as if he were an opponent impossible to defeat," Tobirama finally intervened.

"How can I beat him when he," I showed Minato with my thumb as he hugged me tighter, "almost died?"

"I'd say you're underestimating yourself but it's not it."

"He's way too strong!" Tobirama sighed, his arms crossed.

"You're saying this because he traumatized you and you're terrified of him." I pushed my godfather away, enough for me to see his face. He ran his fingers in my hair to calm me down. "You...I'm sure you can beat him, but you need to overcome the fear he inspires you."

"I can't."

"You can, you just have to try." I bit the inside of my cheek.

It...It was Dad. I couldn't just…

It was Dad. I wouldn't even let a healthy Itachi face him on his own.

No, no it was my job. I had to deal with him, take care of the new obstacles in the way.

It was my job.

It was my stupid duty as a _Yurei_.

I smirked bitterly to myself.

Death and eternal turmoil seemed so tempting right now.

* * *

Yugito Nii was a clever woman. Matatabi, mostly known as the Nibi, had been sealed inside of her when she was only two years old. Although hard, they managed to find a way to work together, making Yugito not just a jinchuriki, but a strong and proud kunoichi from the Hidden Cloud. She was respected and knew how to take the right decisions.

It was not rare of her to visit Sora-ku. Nekobaa was a nice woman, Nekomata respected Matatabi and it was a good way for Kumo to keep an eye on what was happening in the Land of Fire.

It was what led her to her current position. Hidden on a roof, she could see the young woman curled up on herself against the wall in an alley. The club was giving her away for anyone old enough to know of the Bloody Mist, but the blonde kunoichi did not this to recognize her.

Uzumaki Akane, student of the Fifth Mizukage, apprentice of the Fourth, daughter of a candidate for the Mizukage hat. She remembered watching her and her team during the Chuuninn Exams. Everybody knew the three of them would pass with flying colors during the first exam. They, a team of Kiri, worked as a team in perfect sync. Then, the second exam showed her these three trusted each other to a point where, even if they got separated, they knew they would pass. Still, they also cared, because the two boys made a truce with the two Konoha genin to look for their respective teammates. The third stage had been impressive. She had almost lost against the Sharingan, but one look at the Fourth Mizukage sat next the Raikage and it changed.

Everyone felt the cold filling the arena.

It was no surprise the Raikage tried to abduct her. She had a great potential, had a quick wit but held no loyalty toward her village or her Kage. A had wanted her as a kunoichi only.

Of course, she left and even if the Mizukage never tried to get revenge, the relationship between the two villages were at a dead end.

Yet here she was, formerly the Frozen Shinigami now renamed the Bijuu Tamer. Yugito had been a part of the three-man team who witnessed the sealing of the Sanbi. It had been impressive, the girl had somehow managed to talk a bijuu into being sealed.

Although she respected her, she was from another village. None of them were in their country and she was not wearing her forehead protector to identify herself as a kunoichi from the Mist. Attacking a shinobi for no real reason could ignite sparks, but if they were not in front of her as shinobi then it could be even worse.

It still was a golden opportunity though. She was shaking, her eyes closed and apparently out cold.

In the back of her head, she heard he partner advising her to observe from afar, that the girl was not what she seemed to be.

Yugito sighed and threw a kunai on the wooden crate next to the Uzumaki. She jumped on her feet, wide awake. The blonde kunoichi left to watch in the shadows, as the younger woman, not seeing the threat, took the weapon and teleported away.

Deep down, Yugito had a feeling they would meet soon enough.

Matatabi knew something about her, it was enough for the jinchuriki to wait in the shadows for her curiosity to be satisfied.

* * *

"I was attacked," I told Sasuke when I appeared next to him. I bowed to the cat-like old woman in front of his and knelt down.

"Who?" I shrugged and showed him the kunai.

"Dunno, it's a standard one." I smiled sheepishly at the stern looking woman, her cigarette fuming in its holder. "Sorry for coming in such a way."

"You must be Akane, I've heard a lot about you." I sweat dropped. I hope it was in good and not in bad. "So Sasuke, is that all you needed?"

"Yes, thank you Nekobaa." He gave me two scrolls as he finished sealing his own items in his.

"As for the payment then? Do I really ask your father?"

"Well..." He jerked his head toward me. Her small eyes found mine.

"I'll write a note to send with the bill."

I did.

'Hi, your son brought me here to buy weapons, it's a miracle I haven't murdered him in his sleep yet so thanks for paying for us!" I may have added a heart under it to have a laugh. I may have looked away for a second. Sasuke may have given it to Nekobaa anyway with a sadistic smirk on his face.

"Wait wha..." I started but the ninja cat left with the papers anyway. "NO!" Sasuke burst into laughter next to me. I glared at him. "What's so funny!? I'll never be able to face Fugaku-san ever again!"

"You shouldn't have drawn a heart then!" He said between fits of laughter, hugging his stomach. "You've destroyed your credibility!" I blushed furiously.

"Shut up Sasuke, shut up!" I stood up and said goodbye to Nekobaa before leaving. A few seconds flew by before Sasuke was next to me, a smug smirk on his lips. I swung my club at him but he ducked.

"It's dangerous," he noted blankly.

"Little fucker. I'm not spending the rest of my life with you calling you 'anata' and cooking for you." He snorted.

"I don't want food poisoning every day, _fiancee_." I twitched at that.

"You're dead Sasuke. You're actually dead."

He was having too much fun. The only thing which would creep me out even more would be if Itachi was acting like Sasuke.

Yep, not happening.

* * *

"Akane is asking you to pay for this," Itachi told his father, crumpling the note in his closed fist and a bill in his other hand.

"I'll deduct it from her salary," his father replied, his eyes not leaving the paper he was reading.

Itachi nodded and went back to his desk. He took the note and stared at it weirdly.

If he didn't know better, he could think Akane was hitting on his father but the mere thought of such a thing was too disturbing to him. There had to be an explanation to the heart on the note.

And anyway, Sasuke was supposed to be with her, he wouldn't have let her do it if it was serious.

Right?

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks to LadyDV011, NguyetMieu, leeny len, kankananime123 and Aesanna for their reviews.**

 **Bye!**


	75. Kumo Arc: Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes or any OCCness.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 20**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 15**

 **Shisui: 24**

 **Kakashi: 29**

* * *

I wasn't okay. Like, I was stressing a lot. In my old life, I had seen A, the Fourth Raikage, but there was peace between all of the villages and I wasn't really affiliated to Kiri anymore. These were two things I couldn't count on right now. I just...had to be extremely careful of what I would say to him. I...we were on his territory and yes, the Fourth Raikage was intimidating. He literally could crush me with his bare fist if he wanted to.

"You're more stressed than usual."

"You clearly don't know Kumo." Sasuke raised a brow, still staring at the rocky road in front of him as we were walking between mountains.

"They gave you your first spot in the Bingo Book six months after you became a kunoichi."

"Well, seven months, the Exams lasted a month, but yeah. And the Raikage tried to abduct me when we were leaving, Yagura was there by the way, but they failed and...Dai made me take a bad decision."

"Which means?"

"Well, we left by boat, he made me write a not so polite refusal for the Raikage in ice on the water." He deadpanned.

"Why did I even ask?"

"It's not just that. Kumo is the most powerful village on the continent. The Raikage...is impressive, just physically speaking he is impressive and he's the fastest shinobi alive. He's not someone you want on your bad side." Hopefully Sasuke wouldn't attack a Kage Summit in the following years.

"That much?" I nodded.

"Yeah."

"What else is on your mind?" I looked down and he stopped in his tracks. "I'm talking to you."

"I heard, I've chosen to ignore you." He grabbed my wrist harshly and turned me around, almost making me lose balance. The frown on his face reminded me of his mother's.

"I thought I told you you could count on me."

"I know and I do," I replied, removing his hand carefully, "and I'll tell you but later. It's family related, I need to come to terms with it before talking about it." He was disgruntled.

"You've been quiet for the entire week, you better give me a good explanation later." He walked briskly past me and I smirked a little. He still had some childish reactions, like any fif...no, almost sixteen year-old boy, so it was good.

Gosh, sixteen already? Has it already been eight years since I died for the first time?

The trip was almost over anyway. Once we were done with Kumo, we would be off to Konoha.

"By Fall we'll be back in Konoha," I told Sasuke who was now walking in front of me. He peeked at me over his shoulder. "You're ready for it?"

"It's barely Spring, I have time."

"You think you can give me an answer to my question of two years and a half ago?" He turned his head away.

"We'll see."

Everything was calm.

Actually, everything was too calm. There was no way Kumo wasn't aware we were in the Land of Lightning by now.

We were just two-hour walk away from Kumo when I stopped moving.

"What now?"

"We should have been stopped a long time ago to be asked the reason of our presence. They're watching us." He frowned.

"Do you sense anyone." I groaned.

"No, it's the annoying thing. HEY THERE!"

I closed my eyes when a blinding light came out of nowhere. I went into fighting mode and used my club to stop someone from hitting me. Humph, if they wanted to play the 'I'll blind you to get you' game, I would play it.

I spat mist from my mouth. I coupled this with something I mastered recently, which was lowering my body temperature enough to not be found. I pushed my opponent back and jumped back, my back founding Sasuke's. I grabbed one of my kunai and threw it hard in the mountain surrounding us. Without further ado, I teleported Sasuke and I over there. Sasuke took five marked kunai and threw them around the mist before I made my barrier.

"So," I started in a clear voice, the mist disappearing. "What's that welcoming committee?" There were two blond shinobi with black eyes, but the kunoichi...She was Nii Yugito, Matatabi's jinch…

"Sorry, but you can't blame us. This weapon you have promise more pain than conversation." I forgot to breath for a second at the tip of the blade grazing my lower back.

"Sasuke don't move," I told the Uchiha as he had his sharingan spinning at the newcomer. "Darui-san, we came here without forehead protectors, were are not here as shinobi."

"Oh really?" We were using chakra in our feet to stand on the mountain, but Darui pushed his sword in my back to made me go down. It was flat, hopefully, and he didn't seem like he wanted to actually hurt us, just show us they had the upper-hand.

Once Sasuke and I were back on the ground, I smirked a little at the guy's glare and how he was healing his burned hand. Yeah, you shouldn't touch a barrier made of chakra.

"C, seriously?"

"I thought I could break through," he replied with a snarl. "Uzumaki, remove the barrier."

"Remove the sword," I replied.

"Firstly state what you want with the Raikage. You and the Uchiha have been traveling for a while and we were expecting you. He won't receive you unless we report to him beforehand." I looked up at the sky, where a single bird flew above us.

"Unfortunately, it is a matter for which I have to see the Raikage in person."

"You think he would receive you as if nothing happened after the Chuunin Exams?" C asked me with disdain. I snorted.

"I was a twelve year-old brat, gimme some credit." I winked at him and he stepped back with an alarmed expression on his face. "I'm almost twenty-one now." Sasuke sighed next to me.

"You're not going to be disturbed by this, are you?" Yugito asked him with a raised brow. C cleared his throat with an embarrassed flush on his cheeks.

"More seriously, the Raikage has been very strict about your presence here Uzumaki," Darui said, putting his sword away. I turned around to face him. "He doesn't want to waste his time with you after you refused his proposition. We can't let you enter the village without reporting in details what you want." I stared straight in his eyes.

"The Hokage, Mizukage and Kazekage wants us to go to the Raikage directly." He sighed.

"The Raikage has been clear, so sorry but it looks like your mission is a failure." I averted my eyes to the ground for a second before gesturing the barrier to Sasuke. He made it disappear by knocking one of my kunai down with one of his.

"It can't be helped. For what it's worth, please apologize to A-sama for me." Darui ran a hand through his hair as he walked over to his teammates.

"Will do Uzumaki."

"Don't linger around in our country," C added before following Darui. Yugito stared at me for a while longer before joining the two males. Just like that, they were gone.

"I thought jinchurikis knew about you."

"The bijuus do. Well, so does she. I forgot some jinchurikis are more than loyal to their village."

"Seriously?" Sasuke asked me in disbelief. "I mean, apart from Naruto."

"To be honest Sasuke, I respect Kumo more than Konoha." He was taken back by that. "I mean, Konoha's cool I guess, but the main reason I like the place is because I have family and friends there. The village in itself? Ever since Minato died and because of some...events, I don't have the best opinion about it."

Yeah, weak leadership will lead to catastrophes. Always.

"Anyway, what do we do now?" I put my hands on my hips, stretching my back by leaning back.

"Well...we find a way to get the Raikage to accept us."

"Beg for his forgiveness." I deadpanned at him and he shrugged. "Maybe it would work. Get on your knees, bow and beg for his forgiveness."

"We're going to find a solution that doesn't require the sacrifice of my dignity or getting engaged."

"C'mon how long are you going to use that argument?"

"As long as I might become Mrs. Sasuke Uchiha one day!"

* * *

"Well you know, it's a start," I commented whereas a regular size hawk was hitting Sasuke's head with its beak. "It's just a rocky start." Sasuke grabbed the bird perched on his head and held his arms out, the bird facing him. It cried at him almost as if it was telling him to handling it with better care.

"I don't understand hawk." I swear the hawk seemed offended and struggled harder in Sasuke's hands, who ended up dropping it. Hopefully, he flew up and did not fall on the ground.

"I'm surprised the summoning scroll for hawks was at Nekobaa's though." He glared at me and I averted my eyes, a nervous smile on my lips. "I told you already, Mom has the scroll for wolves, I'll talk to her once we're in Konoha!"

"Hn."

"Don't 'hn' me!"

"Think of a plan."

"I have a plan, I just haven't told you yet." It was not totally a lie. I was sure if I were to manage to corner the Raikage into owing me a favor, I would be able to give him the letter.

The question was: how could I get the Raikage to owe me a favor?

Sasuke and I basically walked aimlessly for two other days, being careful not to be spotted by Kumo. I was just writing my story, Sasuke scribbling things about a 'brilliant idea he had for fuinjutsu', next to a fire as the sky was shining with stars when I felt a powerful chakra coming our way. I put down my notebook and pencil. Sasuke saw me delicately reaching for my club and he put what he was doing away.

My club firmly in my hands, I moved my left foot an inch back and slightly bent my knees, ready to strike. The chakra was getting closer and closer, Sasuke now had his sword in his hands. Even if no lightning was dancing around the blade, I felt it could be any seconds now.

"Yo, Ayo, Killer B, it's time. It's time Killer B. Straight out the trapped dungeons of rap." I sweat dropped but stayed in a defensive position. I was mixed between despair and apprehension as a hand came out from behind a rock, the index and pinky stretched out as the others were in a fist. "What more could you ask for? The failed fan? You complain about being turned down. Fool! Ya Fool!" Now, as the rap went on and Sasuke shot me a stunned look, Killer B came out entirely. "I'm rappin' to the mission, And I'm gonna move your commission." I sighed, and put my club back on the ground. "Crazy, mighty, full, like a fox, Boy, I tell you, I thought you were a clocks. Fool! Ya Fool!" He stopped himself and pulled a notebook from his pocket to scribble something inside.

"You know that guy?" Sasuke whispered to me, his eyes not leaving the nutcase in front of us.

"He's Killer B, the Raikage's younger brother."

"Bijuu Tamer, all the way from the Mist, traveling to talk to us jinchurikis!"

"And he's the Hachibi jinchuriki as well." I took a step forward as he walked to us. He stopped in front of me and I knew his eyes were scanning me, even if his sunglasses were hiding them.

"You're not the same at all since the Chuunin Exams Uzumaki. Being a Yurei changed your chakra from what Hachibi told me." I nodded hesitantly and stared at the fist in front of me in utter silence. "A fist bump will tell me if you're honest or not."

"Oh...okay then." Clumsily because I wasn't sure of whether or not it was a trap, I bumped my fist with his.

I...was kind of thrown to the back of my own mind whereas a scene of me accompanying old Kakashi to a Kage Summit in Suna was on display. It was not that interesting, just talks about the Shinobi Union and how the Fourth Raikage was going to retire soon. I was there, next to old Naruto and he was attracting all the attention. Then I was showed with old Naruto and old Killer B who were talking after the meeting about being the last jinchurikis alive.

"It certainly is interesting to see." I jumped at the Hachibi's voice. Gyūki was now in front of me, behind Killer B. "I had heard rumors about Yureis and never really believed it but...you do feel different than a regular shinobi." A drop of sweat rolled down B's face.

"Creepy ghost."

"It's not a ghost, it's a..." I cleared my throat and shot a look above my shoulder. The Shinigami actually looked back at me. Could he, it, even talk? "It's a Deity. I think. I'm pretty sure. Unless it's a demon. No, nope it's a Deity. God of Death."

"You didn't plan to be sent back, did you?" Gyūki asked me while sweat dropping.

"No idea until I was in front of a dead man!"

"Must be troubling to see dead people again," B noted more seriously. I took a deep breath.

"Yeah...you have to get used to it. I mean...all Yureis have mental breakdown apparently, I'm not any different. If anything, I'm more ignorant than any other Yureis before me." I crossed my hands in my back. "Anyway, I can talk to you, so that's good!"

"Yes, you have been looking for jinchurikis, why?" Gyūki asked me.

"To warn you. This organization, the Akatsuki, you can recognize them by the slashed forehead protector and the black cloak with red clouds on it. Anyway, in just a few months now they will start looking for the bijuus. Actually, they tried to get Chōmei and Fū not long ago. They don't care about the jinchurikis because they want to resurrect the Juubi. I...to be fair I'm not sure how they could do it but they can. They will, eventually." I was panting because of how fast I had been talking. "They...are sealed in order."

"So, following your story, Yugito would only have a few months left." I nodded grimly.

"It's...shitty times ahead of us."

"Why are you even telling us this? I get it's bad for jinchurikis to be hunted down, but why go through all the troubles to tell us when we're not allied?" I smiled softly.

"I'm trying to get a better outcome than the first one." I whispered loudly enough for them to hear. "You saw it too, the Shinobi Union? It was created because of the Akatsuki. If it is created earlier, if there is an alliance earlier then maybe there would be less deaths. Less...jinchurikis sacrificed."

I didn't want Haku to die.

I didn't want Utakata to die.

I didn't want Fū to die.

I didn't want Gaara to die.

I didn't want Naruto to die, because now, I couldn't even tell if he wouldn't be caught this time around.

"I've met and befriended five jinchurikis, two of them are related to me. I don't want them to die." I raised my eyes to B. "I know I'm coming out of nowhere, but I can't let this discussion between us be enough. I'd like your silence concerning my condition, but I have to give the letter to your brother and see Yugito. I need to at least give him, if he doesn't want to read it that's fine, the Tsuchikage torn it apart before my eyes after all but..."

"My brother thinks of the village first Uzumaki," he interrupted me curtly. "After the Chuunin Exams, he did try to abduct you, to make you a kunoichi in Kumo. It was obvious that Yagura wasn't treating your potential right." I smirked wryly.

"Kekkai genkai users are loved in Kumo after all," I muttered quietly.

"A won't let you inside the village just because B asks him to anyway." I looked up at Gyūki. "B is not even supposed to be outside of the village but he sneaked out to hear you out after Yugito told him you were different and here for them." I blinked several times in surprise.

"Oh." I set my eyes on the rapper. "Thanks B-san." He was curious too after all. In the blink of an eye, I was back in the cool night only illuminated by the fire.

"You're okay?" Sasuke asked me with well hidden worry in his onyx eyes.

"Yeah. B-san...if the Raikage were to owe us something, would he listen?" He raised an eyebrow.

"It's hard to achieve this, Fool, Ya Fool!"

"Well, there must be some..." Sasuke raised his brows too and I stopped talking, staring at him. My mouth was still opened. He shot a look behind him, but there was just a rock.

"Nee...-san?"

"How could I not think about it earlier!? B-san, would you be kind enough to meet with us here at the same hour in a week precisely?"

"I...guess..." he agreed slowly.

"Great, then it's settled! Tomorrow, we're getting a boat Sasuke!" His eyes were almost bulging.

"What do you mean 'we're getting a boat'!?" I just grinned at him.

It was something old Sasuke had done before. However, it was a place I knew because of Yagura and his contacts in the underworld. How many times did he threaten me to put me in that place if I was disappointing? I had been there twice, and swore I would never go back.

Old Sasuke told me the Raikage never knew it was a thing so close to his village.

Well, time to head back to the Coliseum.

* * *

"Basically, it's an isolated island present on no maps. Only underworld people go there to be entertained and bet on the people they have bought when they fight in the Coliseum."

"Let me guess, you know about it because you almost ended up there?" I nodded and he looked at the calm waves of the sea. "Only kekkei genkai users then."

"Well yes and no, we're just more lucrative. Turn at three o'clock." The boat slowly moved toward the right. I shivered at the sight of the island. From afar it looked like an amusement park but it was really just a lot of lights and bling bling covering the illegal stuff happening behind close door.

Apart from the Coliseum, there was prostitution, human traffic, even slavery, drug traffic, weapon traffic...it was just a place where there was absolutely no law.

Once we were out of the boat, we blended in the mass. I had my old Bloody Mist mask of indifference on my face whereas Sasuke was putting up his best Uchiha look, even if he was clearly uncomfortable in this environment. As any intel collecting requires, we went to a place we would hear a lot.

A bar. But not just any type of bar, the kind where if I stopped keeping an eye on Sasuke for a second his look would get him swooped away by a girl, or a boy. We sat on stools at the bar, my club sealed in a tag

"How do you deal with it?" Sasuke muttered as I ordered drinks without alcohol.

"Frankly, three quarter of the time I don't." Akihito-sama was very creepy to me with how he would look at me.

We listened quietly to the talks around us. Money talks, some about sex, other about money once again, and sex, and drugs, basically none of them were very interesting. I perked up when I heard the name 'En Oyashiro'. Hum...he was the responsible of the Coliseum, I must have met him at least once years ago. Dropping some bills on the counter, I finished my drink and left the bar, Sasuke behind me.

"Tonight, there should be fights." I turned in a dark alley, Sasuke still behind me. "We'll infiltrate En Oyashiro's office."

"Proofs?"

"That, and I want to know the number of participants." Who knew, maybe I could kill two birds with one stone. Get inside of Kumo but also give Kiri a good name, especially if there were a lot of participants with kekkei genkai. Once known as the Bloody Mist with its genocide, Kiri would now be a defender of people with kekkei genkai.

We did. With concealing seals and all of the knowledge I could use without Dai and Mangetsu with me, we infiltrated his office. We could hear cheering from arena, mixed with the sound of fighting.

"It seems like the biggest event will be in a week and a half, on April 15th." I pursed my lips at Sasuke's voice. It would give us time to contact Kiri and get B-san to help us with getting his brother on the island. "There are approximately fifty-four participants with kekkei genkai and thirty-seven regular people with average fighting skills."

"Most likely, they will die a quick death," I replied, writing a copy seal on a scroll. I opened it in front of the documents and a beam of blue chakra left the seal to cover the documents. Quickly, the ink took the shape of the words. Once this was done and tucked in my pouch, we left.

We left the island with no troubles. Even if it was the middle of the night, the way to the mainland was not a long one. It should have been calm.

It was, until a typhoon came out of nowhere. It was very violent and was attracting the water to it.

"Jump!" Sasuke yelled in the now pouring rain. I did, like him, and the poor small wooden boat flew right in the typhoon. I raised my arm to protect my face, the sea agitated under my feet.

Huh…

Sasuke and I exchanged a look, my slightly different brown eyes meeting the red of the Sharingan.

It was not natural.

We ran on opposite sides. I stopped and summoned Oki and Umi. I was about to explain the situation to them but the sound of the typhoon coming my direction stopped.

"Find the culprit! One of you help Sasuke!" I went through hand seals quickly. "Suiton: Great Waterfall Technique!" The violent water met the typhoon, not beating it. Well, I would have preferred to test it before...I stretched out my left hand and focused to make the right storage seal in thin air. I released it and a violent wind strengthened my water jutsu, effectively dispersing the typhoon.

I watched the drops of water falling and squinted my eyes at the silhouette in front of me.

"Hey! Why are you attacking us!?" They didn't respond and I barely had the time to duck a blade thrown at me. I was barely up there was an explosion under my water and I lost my balance.

Okay...they knew what they were doing and I could only hope Sasuke was okay with the other one. There had to be another one otherwise he would already be here.

Still under water, I made a water dragon and launched it at them.

" **Akane...** " oji-chan started quietly. I grunted and it made him shut up.

I made another dragon and put Nuibari in it, the thread in my hand as I glued myself to the head of the dragon. I inhaled deeply once out, soaked to the bone and my hair now stuck to my forehead. I jumped away from the dragon that I directed toward my opponent. They dispersed it with a small typhoon but Nuibari went through.

Using my thread, I tried to tie them up but they escaped before. Yeah, I was good fighting on water but with Nuibari it was better if I were on solid ground.

"Kiri dog," I finally heard them, him, say. But...he sounded...young. Maybe Sasuke's age or barely older.

"You better off calling me a bitch, I happen to behave that way with people who attack me out of nowhere." Nuibari's handle was back in my hand. "Who are you?"

"I don't have anything to say to murderers like you." He charged, two typhoons coming at me. I dodged them and threw marked kunai at him. The three of them were lost in the typhoons he moved in front of him and I used this opportunity to stopped water walking. I turned to that I was facing the surface of the sea and made a thin layer of ice under my feet. I applied an explosive seal on it to propelled me under him.

I grabbed his ankles and sank him in the water. I wrapped a leg around his legs, my other leg around his waist and his arms, my right arm on his neck and I put my left hand on his chest.

Bubbles of air went to the surface when he gritted his teeth as he felt my Chakra Suppressing Seal on him. Then, I put my Immobility Seal on the side of his neck with my right hand. I swam back to the surface and let him float on his back as I got up.

"I hate repeating myself."

"I'm not...answering to someone like you...Bijuu Tamer." I sighed.

"Nowaki!" I turned around and froze at the red eyes looking at me. I moved away but all the hairs on my body stood up as I heard a roar behind me. I turned around to see a red water dragon diving toward me. Everything...was red.

"Snap out of it!" I blinked as the red faded away. My legs gave way under my weight and if it wasn't for Sasuke, I would have drown. He slipped an arm around my waist, my arm on his shoulders and his hand firmly holding mine to keep me steady. "She has a doujutsu I've never heard of. She put you in a genjutsu."

My mind was foggy. I was hearing him and the little girl talking to each other, but I only cared about Sasuke dropping me on Garuda, a hawk he managed to befriend.

"Damn, you can't even..." he grunted when Garuda took off, me almost falling from the bird. Sasuke went behind me, pushed me toward the front of Garuda and stayed behind me, his hands firmly on my shoulders to keep me from moving.

Genjutsu…

Genjutsu from a doujutsu were...too much…

I really sucked at genjutsu. I had an eye against it, but I wasn't expecting her to pull off something like that so she took me by surprise.

Damn I felt stupid.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought of this chapter!**

 **Bye!**

 **PS: The rap is not from me, I found a website which writes raps for you if you enter some words so...that's what I did.**


	76. Kumo Arc: Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes or any OCCness.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 20**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 15**

 **Shisui: 24**

 **Kakashi: 29**

* * *

"Sorry," Umi apologized deeply at me as I was still gazing into nothing. "I didn't find any opening and couldn't help you as I should have." I pet her on the head.

"It's okay, I'm not dead, Sasuke's not dead, and you got data out of this. Oki too." Umi's big black eyes were still filled with guilt. "The good point is, now I know it's any genjutsu coming from a doujutsu I can't handle, not just the Sharingan!" My two summons shared a look at my obvious fake cheeriness and left in a poof of smoke.

I sighed and leaned my head against the tree behind me. After a few minutes of thinking about this Nowaki and the little girl, Sasuke landed in front of me, Garuda disappearing in the sky.

"You're feeling better?" I groaned a little and got up, using the bark of the tree for stability.

"Kind of. I really hate genjutsu with a passion."

"If we see them again, at least you'll use that left eye of yours." I nodded and swallowed with difficulty because of my dry throat. I unsealed my canteen of water and emptied it in a couple of seconds. "Let's get an inn until we meet up with Killer B." After making sure I was following without tripping over my own foot, his pace went from slow to normal.

"You're...disturbed too." He didn't answer but I thought I saw a brief tension in his shoulders. "Sasuke?"

"Later, I need to send a message to my father." I furrowed my brows. If Sasuke wanted to send a message to Fugaku-san on his own free will...that girl must have told him something.

The walk to the inn was quiet, the both of us deep in our thoughts. Even once we were in our respective rooms, I personally was still quite disconnected from reality. Truth be told, old Sasuke showing me old Itachi's memories made me have a bad reaction to the Sharingan in general. However, I had never been put in a real genjutsu by the Sharingan. Sure, old Itachi used the Mangekyou on me, but I just passed out.

Kimou's genjutsu never made me this...weak afterward but hers was...something else.

How could old Kakashi keep up with old Itachi's Tsukuyomi was above me. If it had been me, even Tsunade-san wouldn't have been able to get me out of my coma.

I found sleep with difficulty and my night was plagued with nightmares. I could truly rest around four in the morning and I slept in without Sasuke waking me up. I was feeling better, still shaken up, but better. Once I was ready, I knocked on Sasuke's door.

There was no response. I tried to turn the door knob and it surprisingly did. I sneaked inside his room, entirely in the dark if it was not for the small spot of the window not hidden by the curtain. I walked over to the bed.

Sasuke was lying on his stomach, his arms under his pillow and his face in it. His under eyes had dark circles. My eyes shifted to the nightstand, on which there was a note. I grabbed it and went over it quickly. It was Fugaku-san's writing, I knew that. However, I had no idea who that Chinoike clan mentioned was. It was written here that during the Warring State Era, the Uchiha clan had been hired to exile them from the Land of Lightning and they ended up in the Land of Hot Water.

The only logical thing to me would be if the girl was affiliated to that clan and mentioned the Uchihas' part in this clan's exile. Although, it was a century ago if not more, so resent them...gosh I hate the shinobi system of hatred.

"Nee-san?" Sasuke mumbled, an opened eye looking at me through raven locks. I smiled gently at him.

"Go back to sleep, I'll find something to do."

"Hn...take a break." I blinked but he was already back asleep. A small chuckled escaped from my lips.

"Fine sir."

* * *

I was pacing furiously at the meeting spot, Sasuke sitting on a rock three times my height, a leg dangling in nothing and the other close to his chest, his elbow on his knee.

"Would you stop that? It's annoying," he told me from his spot, his cheek in his hand. I glared furiously at him.

"He's late! I'm not going to calm down with everything..."

"Sorry I'm late, I had the wrong date..." he started raping when he showed up. One glare from me made him shut up.

I really felt bad for Gyūki, having to handle his awful raps all the time…

"Anyway, how would the Raikage and your Daimyo feel about an island filled with illegal businesses from the underworld?" I had his full attention. "I checked, it's closer to your country than the Land of Water, it's under your jurisdiction. Now, would the Raikage accept to see me with these information I'm willing to share?" Sasuke jumped down and walked next to me, his hands in his pockets.

"Brother's pride will take a hit, he won't like it a bit! Fool ya fool!"

"But he'll do it?"

"He'll do it," B confirmed to Sasuke.

We exchanged the details and once we were back at our inn, I summoned Uma. I wrote a message to sensei and teleported him to my place.

The Hiraishin didn't take a toll nearly as big as it used to on me anymore.

"You're really going to take them on? All of them?"

"Yeah. Introducing myself with that club and as Yagura's apprentice should ignite some anger among the fighters."

"You're making yourself a target."

"I'm totally making myself a target," I agreed. "And you...will keep Kumo from the Coliseum until I'm done. Drop a clone in the audience."

"You want me to keep Kumo from the Coliseum?"

"Use that brain of yours Sasuke." He sighed in frustration.

"Nii-san's right, you are the worst. And reckless too, how you manage to survive each time is a mystery." I raised a brow at him.

"Itachi criticized my recklessness? Because now you know it's thoughtful and strategic recklessness!"

"Tell him that and he won't believe you. That thing you did after sealing the Sanbi really...disturbed him. I'm not saying that from a love point of view, it's just something I've noticed." I looked at the floor.

"He thinks I'm suicidal?"

"I'm pretty sure it crossed his mind. He doesn't know about your full Yurei condition and its impact on the mental, so...be careful about what you say around him please."

"To be fair, I'm more worried about Naruto. I promised him I wouldn't die to make him leave with Haku but almost did anyway."

"Oh he's pissed." Awesome.

Going back to the Coliseum was stressful. I was scared to meet these two again. Sasuke made a clone and left to meet up with Kumo as I entered the Coliseum. I went to give my own name as a fighter and watched the fights unfolding in front of me, waiting for my turn. The lights were blinding even from where I was standing above the sits and I could clearly see the despair most of them were fighting with.

"There are at least five different reasons for which the audience could be under arrest," Sasuke noted dully, leaning on the railing. I scoffed.

"You're being nice." I grabbed a marked kunai and twirled it around my finger.

One of the two opponents lost. We waited for a couple of minutes before the commentator came back, all of the lights on him.

"And now, all the way from Kirigakure, a kunoichi from two extinct clans will fight! She's the Fourth Mizukage's apprentice and slaughtered countless innocents for the Bloody Mist! She's now known as the Bijuu Tamer, please welcome, wearing Uchiha Sasuke's ID tag, Uzumaki Akane!" The lights stopped on me. I smirked disdainfully and threw my kunai in front of the guy in the arena before teleporting to it.

I was pretty sure Sasuke rolled his eyes at me, but I had to make people want to...acquire me. Although, I was pretty sure I would break a sweat.

"I will make something very clear," I started in a clear voice, "If you want your freedom back, then come and get it." My smirk grew as my eyes went over everyone. "I mean...you might want to be more than one." I worked, because others jumped in the arena, some on the orders of their owners who thought I was all talk, others on their own free will.

I avoided a guy who charged at me, covered in lightning, by grabbing my kunai in the floor and threw it in the air. I teleported to it and engulfed the area with the Hiding in the Mist Jutsu.

Using the Silent Killing Technique might be enough.

I landed silently among them, who had started to fight each other thinking it was me, and began to knock them out, one by one. I was sensing their chakra, throwing their unconscious bodies out of the arena. When only those able to fight back in the mist were remaining, I stopped the jutsu.

A dozen.

I avoided lava. Huh, it was not they were not good per say...just they clearly had not had the kind of training you could have in a Hidden Village. Even if some were better than others.

With just a few Water Jutsu and some taijutsu, eight more were out.

I made clones to take care of the others and barely avoided a lightning-filled blade. I stared at the broken pieces of the floor around it, the blade now deep in the concrete, and ducked the punch.

I frowned when I finally had a good look at that Nowaki.

"How dare you come here!?"

"Obviously," I replied, stopping his fist with my club and clenching my fist when I felt the blow in my whole body, "I'm not just a do-gooder." His face twisted in anger and he threw my club away, punching me right after.

I used the water on the floor, from my previous jutsu, to permute myself with a water clone.

Once I was out of the water, I was met with red eyes. I closed my right eye with a grin. Her face morphed into shock when her genjutsu proved itself useless and I grabbed her blond head, sealing her eyes. Before the guy could reach me, I teleported to my club and got up, glad my clones got rid of the other four.

"What did you do!?" the girl yelled in rage.

"What, you can't do anything without your eyes? It's sad." Would you look at that, my sass was back and freely pouring out from my mouth.

"Chino wait!" I widened my eyes at the speed her soap bubbles were coming at me.

"Hyōton: Freezing Technique!" I yelled, the first bubble a millimeter from my nose when it froze completely.

"Hyō...ton?" he repeated whereas I sent the bubbles back at them. They avoided them.

* * *

One by one, each individual of the island was being apprehended. Bartender, casinos' owners, prostitutes' pimps...all of them were being arrested by shinobi from Kumo. Sasuke watched, from his spot on the roof, Killer B catching a man in his fifties trying to run away in his tentacle. In front of him was a tall and imposing man, with pale blond hair pushed back and dark skin. The yellow hat tied around his neck indicated his rank.

The Fourth Raikage.

Sasuke activated his sharingans. In the blink of an eye, he dived to the side to avoid the Raikage.

"You're the Uchiha brat following the Uzumaki around?" Sasuke kept himself from baring his teeth at him. He was making it sound like he was a dog following its owner.

"So?" The Raikage scoffed at him.

"Oh? Talking back?" The Raikage looked around. "So, where's the Uzumaki? She's the one who orchestrated all of this."

"Boss, that arena seems oddly suspicious, don't you think?" Darui told him casually from the street. Sasuke tensed and gulped silently when the Raikage set his eyes on said arena.

Seeing Sasuke was not about to move, the Raikage made a step forward.

"I can't let you go just yet."

"And how, exactly, are you going to stop me?"

Picking a fight with the Raikage was definitely not on the program. Still, he stretched out his arm, his katana in his hand, in front of the man. Even though the blade was still inside its sheath, the act in itself said a lot about what could happen.

The burning Sharingan spinning in his eyes said a lot.

"Do you know what you're doing Konoha brat?"

"Unfortunately," Sasuke started, glancing at the lightning appearing around the man, "I do more than you think."

* * *

"You'll never wash off the blood from your hands," Nowaki told me blankly, his hands on Chino's shoulders. I managed to put a strong Immobility Seal on her. "That club you have...you're just spitting on all of the victims."

"No, carrying it makes me remember every single day what I've done under the Fourth's regime." My eyes hardened. "It reminds me of what was taken away from all of the victims. We have to move on from our bloody past, and the first step is assuming all of the mistakes that happened and finding solutions. We can't bring back the dead, we can't go back in time. The only thing we can do is making sure such an era does not happen again."

"Do you really think you are the right person to do this?" I shrugged.

"I'm not lea..." I didn't even finish my sentence that I teleported to a kunai which had fallen from the battle ground. I blinked and looked at my hands.

I didn't do that. The Raikage was now standing in my spot, I was alive from whatever he had tried to do, but...I...for a brief second…

" **Oh**."

" _Oji-chan, was it you?_ "

" **I think so, it was weird. We'll talk about it later**."

"Uzumaki! What's the meaning of all this!?"

"You didn't want to receive me!" All around, shinobi from Kumo were arresting members of the audience. "You really thought I wasn't going to try something if I had Intel?"

"I wouldn't have thought you would use this kind of Intel." I snorted and crossed my arms.

"Raikage-sama, Intel is Intel and we both know it, no matter where it comes from." He gauged me with his eyes and I noticed his burned sleeve. "So, it's kinda humiliating to have so much illegal shit happening under your nose, isn't it? I mean...this island is in your national waters after all." He frowned.

"You should watch your mouth." I pursed my lips. "You've mastered the Yellow Flash's signature move." I nodded slowly.

"You've made quite a mess." I raised my brows and craned my neck back. Sensei was calmly walking toward us, her Mizukage hat resting on her head. She smiled politely at the Raikage. "Raikage-dono."

"Mizukage," he replied gruffly. "Your kunoichi went to my brother to have an audience with me." Sensei shot me a look that made me shiver from the corner of her eyes.

"She'll make sure to get what she wants. Will she have the chance the have an audience with you?" I took a deep breath and almost puffed my chest when he looked at me once again.

"I guess, if she went to so much troubles to have my attention it must be something important."

"It is," she confirmed. Then, she turned to me. "So, these people…?"

"Oh, the unconscious ones, the two still conscious left that place a while ago I think."

"You knew?"

"Not really, I just guessed from your presence here and the anger." Shinobi from my village went to the people on the ground, under the Raikage's scrutinizing gaze. He scoffed and smirked wryly.

"So we just have the culprits then." He started to leave. "Darui will take you to Kumo." He walked away, far enough to be out of hearing range.

"Akane, go outside and find Sasuke. After, we will have a talk about this stupid plan."

She was mad. I didn't know why, but she was mad.

Still I made my way outside. Sasuke was sitting against a wall, Dai healing the bruises on his body. He was conscious though.

"Who did you fight with?" I asked him when I was next to them. They both looked at me.

"You look like shit," the Uchiha replied.

"Really?" He barely touched my knee that I fell on my ass. I blinked in confusion at my shaking legs. Dai looked at me up and down with a frown, completely in medical mode.

"Karin, Haku, take care of her." I closed my eyes when I felt Karin's healing chakra on my head.

"A burn on the arm, many bruises and an opened lip," Haku listed sternly.

Oh, I had not realized I had been hurt that much.

"Bite," Karin ordered me, her hand in front of my mouth. I turned my head away. "Uzu-nee, bite my hand now!"

"N...humph!" Haku turned my head and forced my teeth in Karin's hand. I made a face at the weird taste in my mouth, but relaxed when my strength started to come back. I...was exhausted from the fight. I pulled back after a few seconds. Karin gave me a look but let it slide.

"What were you thinking Sasuke?" Dai asked him as the green chakra disappeared. "You fought the Raikage!"

"I didn't die, it's not that bad." He wasn't wrong there, so why did Dai look upset?

My teammate shot me a look and glared at my confusion.

"Seriously Uzu, you don't see any problem with him fighting the Raikage?" I opened my mouth, realizing C was not far with a blond woman with a big chest, his mind clearly still somewhere else.

"I mean...politically or…?" He groaned in frustration.

"For fuck sake! You really don't see it!? Do I have to snitch to his brother to make you understand!?" He was bringing Itachi into the mix?

"Why are you getting angry?" I murmured under my breath. Haku hugged me from behind, his arms around my neck, and pushed me against his chest.

"They're both exhausted Dai-san, please just let it go for now." Dai looked at him, then at me.

"You shouldn't have taken this mission, it's too much for you, even if Sasuke is here," he told me more calmly. He rose from his spot and walked away.

"He's been worried since you left the village," Karin explained to me, "he snapped when he saw Sasuke's state."

"Worried?"

"Yes, because at least before you always came back to Kiri to relax and get things out of your chest to more than one person. Your…your judgment can get clouded too easily Uzu-nee," Haku whispered to me.

There was not a sound for a couple of minutes until sensei arrived. She grabbed my arm, pulled me on my feet and took me aside, away from unwanted ears. I almost hunched under her gaze.

"Do you know why Dai and I are mad at you?" I shook my head. "You really don't see?"

"Sasuke and the Raikage."

"Yes. Sasuke shouldn't have been alone against the Raikage, let alone fight him. He's lucky to still be alive."

"I didn't tell him to fight him." For a second, I thought she was going to slap me. "What, he's old enough to know what to do as a shinobi!"

"He's still a child."

"Wh...he's almost sixteen!"

"Akane, sixteen is still being a child, no matter how you see it. He has known you for most of his life and went through some rough times a few years ago." She grabbed my shoulders. "You were the first one to say he was easily-influenced without acknowledging you have a lot of influence on him, whether you want it or not."

"But..."

"No matter what he says, he is far from being the grown-up man you once knew. There are situations he can't handle just yet, situations you can't and you're not supposed to let him handle alone. He's used to see you acting recklessly in missions. Yes, you know what you do, but you have way more experience than he does. If you influence him in a bad way, he might get himself killed, no matter if he survived _before_ or not." As the words were leaving her mouth, my eyes kept growing wider and wider.

"I'm a bad influence?"

"Honestly, for this one, yes. It was a bad decision to leave him stop the Raikage on his own to begin with."

"And Dai and you are mad because he could have..."

"Yes. Akane, you're the adult, you're clearly the adult here. You need to act like it with him." She sighed at my horrified expression.

I wanted to vomit.

"Look, I'm not saying he can't handle his fair share of responsibilities and such, just...don't dump too much on him at once, even if he assures you he can take it. You know him more than me, but I'm more used to growing shinobi than you."

"I...yes." What could I retort to that?

On the Eastern Continent, I said so myself, there was a chance I would lean too much on Sasuke.

I wasn't a genius like Itachi, and even he _before_ completely wrecked his brother. I...I couldn't possibly do the same, right?

He fought the Raikage.

He fought the Akatsuki even before Naruto or Konoha properly do.

"Akane..."

"I'll do better," I told her, my fists clenched. "I..."

"If you don't feel like you can, Dai can replace you for that time in Konoha." I widened my eyes.

"No, I have to..."

"I know, but or you handle it properly, or you come back. You'll be a dead weight if not worst if you can't keep your head on your shoulders."

"I will do better sensei." She pursed her lips.

"We know how to deal with you when you're in a breakdown," she whispered to me, "just...make sure there is at least one person in Konoha who can too."

"...yes..."

I hated it. I was fully aware I was not made to be a shinobi, how it fucked me up in more ways than possible. Still, I had a way to deal with it. It wasn't a healthy way to cope with my job, but it was a way.

I hated how they were so careful of my mental health, even more so since I was a Yurei. I understood where sensei, Dai and Mangetsu when he was still with us came from, but it made me feel like a child in need of constant protection.

But being a Yurei really made everything worst.

"Mom is in Konoha," I reminded sensei.

"I know, who do you think is looking for someone to look over you when Dai and I won't be here?" She smiled slightly at me. "I've been in contact with her, what do you think?"

"Sorry for being so problematic." She pressed me against her by hugging me around the shoulders with one arm.

"It's nothing, I love you just the way you are." I hugged her back, enjoying her warmth. "Don't forget the mind takes more time to heal than the body, and that it is more fragile."

"Yes sensei."

"Be careful of Sasuke and yourself." I nodded. "I'll take care of the people you 'won'."

"Okay." I took a deep breath. "Thank you sensei."

* * *

I wish I could have had more time with Haku and Karin. Dai left with us not being on really good terms and my cousins were clearly worried, but they all left with the previously slaves. They would be given a choice to go on their own way or stay in Kiri, as a civilian or shinobi, it was their choices. Sensei would handle this matter perfectly.

It was a day ago. Now we were back on the mainland, following Darui quietly. My eyes would sometimes go to Sasuke's left arm, actually broken in three different spots and now wrapped in a splint.

At first, when I joined him after my talk with sensei, he talked to me. I replied in a monosyllabic way like he does it so often, and he stopped trying.

For now, he would try later, I knew it.

"I will leave you at an inn next to the Raikage building and will pick you up tomorrow to meet with the Boss. Until then, you are forbidden to leave your room."

"Understood Darui-san," I replied, some greenery slowly being more and more present on the borders of the road. I looked in nostalgia at the buildings built in the around the mountains.

I stared at the inn, the one I remembered staying at during my Chuunin Exams, with a deadpanned expression.

"Seriously?" I muttered. Darui shrugged.

"Orders Uzumaki." He left when we were in our room, two single beds on each side of the room. I threw my bag on one, under the window, and plopped myself down on the bed, flat on my stomach. I sunk my face in my pillow.

On the side, I heard Sasuke putting his stuff away and sit on his bed.

Now he was staring at me.

I huffed and pulled my face out of the pillow after a few minutes of heavy silence.

"What?"

"Don't keep me aside." I frowned without looking at him. "It's not because of you I decided to take on the Raikage." I sighed and sat crossed-legged in front of him, the pillow in my arms.

"It's not just that Sasuke."

"Then what is it? If you're angry at me…"

"I'm not," I contradicted him immediately. "I'm angry at myself. I'm disappointed in myself. I..." I rubbed my forehead in front of his obvious confusion. "I'm the adult, I'm more than an adult Sasuke. You're not."

"I'm a..."

"No, you're not. You're a teenager, no matter what you're not supposed to handle...so much. I've put too much on your shoulders and started seeing you as the Sasuke I once knew, who was an adult with everything that goes with it. I shouldn't have forgotten I, myself, could be an influence for you and that my behavior as a shinobi was not...ideal." My eyes softened at the hidden worry in his eyes. "I'm not planning on keeping you out, but I've put too much on your shoulders too fast, asking you to keep the Raikage back was the...call to order I needed. The Raikage is way out of your league." I ran a frustrated hand in my hair. "I'm sorry for fucking up, you could have died. He had not before, but you can and I forgot that. It's...I fucked up and I'm sorry." He stared at me for a couple more seconds and averted his eyes to the window behind me.

"You've been weird since Sora-Ku." That again? "And the genjutsu made it worst. It must have played a part in clouding your judgment."

"Huh, maybe. In any case, I'll do better. I just need some time to...figure some things out." He pursed his lips. "I won't keep you in the dark, you're still the best ally I can have in this."

"Oh." He didn't seem that convinced, and I was pretty sure that for the first time, he forgot to hide how scary the situation actually was. "Nii-san and Shisui, even Kakashi would be good too, right?"

"I don't need overprotective morons." I blinked, taken back by my own harshness. "It sounded less mean in my head. They're not stupid but I don't want people who would limit my moves by worrying over nothing."

"Do you want me to leave you alone for a while?" I nodded slowly.

"It...I think I need it."

I couldn't risk Dai going to Konoha in my place.

As promised, the next day Darui came to take us to the Raikage. The entrance of the building was actually in another mountain than the one with the Raikage's office. We walked through many large hallways, all of them having huge windows overlooking the village, and the clouds thanks to the height of the building.

I couldn't lie, Kumo was...pretty. It was also the coldest out of the five villages and I found that particularly enjoyable.

Hum...I wasn't going to say I'd like to live here but...I liked that place.

"Boss, they're here." The Raikage opened an eye once we were in front of him. He was sitting in a blue couch, his arms spread out on the back of the couch.

"Raikage-sama, thanks for receiving us," I said professionally with a bow. Sasuke imitated me.

"With that mess you both caused, you were hard to ignore." I didn't reply. I had to give him that letter, it was all that mattered. I wouldn't let him taunt me. "So? What is so important you want to meet me in person?"

I rummaged through one of my back pouch and pulled out the scroll from it. I walked to the Raikage and stretched out my hand. After a quick look at the blue scroll he took it. I bowed in thanks and went back next to Sasuke.

For the following minute, the only sound we could hear was the ticking of the clock on the wall. My heart started racing painfully in my heat, its beating echoing in my ears. Finally, the Raikage folded the scroll back.

"From what B told me, I assume you have already talked with him about this." I nodded. "Seal Masters are independent from Hidden Villages, but how can I be sure you will not report what happens here to your Kage?"

"Get one of your fuinjutsu people to make a confidentiality seal or whatever." He scoffed.

"Why wouldn't I just get one of my men to do this job?" I shrugged.

"My last name and the implications that come with it, me getting the title of Seal Master before Namikaze Minato or Jiraya-san."

"You don't seem to even care."

"I apologize Raikage-sama, but finding a way to be here in front of you today was a lot. I thought it would speak for itself." He frowned. "That you accepted to read the letter is already a lot in itself, the Tsuchikage just torn it apart. Just for this, thank you."

"If that old man had read this, it would have made him rethink his habit to hire the Akatsuki to do his dirty work." He stood up. "I will think about the proposition in that letter. For the time being, you two will stay in the village. You got yourself a job Uzumaki." I bowed once again.

"I am very thankful Raikage-sama."

The Raikage respected strength, hopefully my display at the Coliseum just played in my favor.

Although…I really hated how numb I was since Sensei...told me those things.

I...I needed to think calmly about everything. Now I could see how my plan had been flawed, how I was lucky B-san believed me.

I probably needed a break too, so that my next plan didn't include sending Sasuke to a certain death.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought of this chapter! Thanks to mikan26, nevvy and realfan16 for the reviews!**

 **Bye!**


	77. Kumo Arc: Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes or any OCCness.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 21 / 20**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 15**

 **Shisui: 24**

 **Kakashi: 29**

* * *

"So, opinions?"

"Well, it's obvious," oji-chan said, pacing in front of me and the Nidaime. "It seems like this seal is even more similar to a jinchuriki's than we thought. You didn't sense A coming but I did and in that moment, I took control. I controlled your body and used the Hiraishin to put you in a safer spot."

"I know that a bijuu can take control of the body of the jinchuriki to at least talk, I've seen old Naruto and Kurama do it, but us?"

"The Claw," Tobirama said as if it answered all questions.

"You can't possess me!"

"Maybe...maybe not, who knows. The more it progresses, the more we feel a connection with the outside world. You should go to Uzushio, find information on how to summon us and see if you can start trying."

"If a war is coming with Madara back from the dead, we'll be needed. Especially my brother."

"Who's still sleeping," I added with a frustrated sigh. "I'll check Okuni-san's files too, I haven't read through it all with everything that's going on." They shared a look. "What? If it's about my stupid plan, sensei lectured me already."

"Yes but...we talked and...we thought it would be good if you see Inoichi once you're in Konoha." I narrowed my eyes at me.

"I don't need a shrink!"

"Better that than having you losing your sanity little by little Akane." I looked at Tobirama with wide eyes. He never used my name before, and his posture, with his arms crossed, indicated he was more than serious. "Umiko...the Claw was slowly turning her into...she was numb to any kind of dangers." I chuckled hollowly.

"Come on, I didn't notice the injuries but they were nothing major! I heal fast anyway, what's the point of avoiding non-lethal attacks?"

"The simple fact you're saying this proves there is something wrong." I glared at Tobirama. "You may be a Yurei, but I'm the only one who has witnessed one for years and how it impacted her."

"You were a spectator, so you have no right to talk."

"Akane, please," Minato pleaded, grabbing my shoulders firmly, "you're...you're less and less yourself in fights. One day you will think you can walk off a mortal wound and die if you keep this up."

"Well guess what, it doesn't matter!" I replied, slapping his hands away before taking a step back. "I have a fucking duty to do, a job! You can't understand!"

"Your job was to keep that Shisui to kill himself, that and only that was your job," Tobirama stated coldly. "You're the one who keeps convincing yourself it's not enough because of your own regrets." I flailed around.

"That's my job, fixing my regrets! Regrets are the only reason why my soul was sent back when I didn't even want to!" I rolled my eyes. "It...I don't wanna talk about it, so keep your mouth shut if you want to talk about a shrink."

I took a deep breath once I was back in the real world, the fresh air there was at the mountain I was on filling my nostrils and lungs. There were only two things I could see from there: the sea in the distance and white clouds as the mountain was so high its peak was way above the clouds.

"Uzumaki, B's ready." I turned to Yugito.

"Coming." I followed her in silence, my eyes on the road.

I had been given a confidentiality seal in the shape of a cloud, placed just above the one for the Uchiha and Hyuuga clans. I would start by examining B-san's seal and improve it if possible, then I would do the same to Yugito. Apparently, she wanted to see what I would do to B and judge my performance to decide if she wanted to have me look at her seal.

Clever woman she was. Too bad she had the Two-Tails inside of her. Who knew how long she would last.

B-san's seal was pretty good, I had to admit. Not as strong as Naruto's or Haku's, but strong nonetheless. Anyway, B-san could work perfectly well with his bijuu, so it was an advantage against the Akatsuki.

"Alright, by tomorrow I should have some prototypes of seal to strengthen yours," I said after an intensive hour of examining his seal.

"It doesn't make it unbreakable then," Yugito suddenly said in a clear voice. I looked up at her.

"No, no seal is unbreakable."

"You're just giving us more time, but your father is a part of this Akatsuki."

"How do you know that?"

"We keep tracks, to cover our backs!" B exclaimed.

"For all we know he could break what you're doing easily, or you could be working with him." I didn't even feel the usual anger I felt when my father was mentioned. It was just...exhausting. I got up and dusted my pants.

"Think what you want, it won't keep me from doing my job. If you'll excuse I have work to do for tomorrow."

I left without further ado.

* * *

"Any news Tsunade-san?" The Hokage raised her eyes from the papers scattered on her desk.

"They're most probably in Kumo now. The Raikage accepted to receive them."

"Kumo?" Akiko repeated in a whisper.

"Yeah...Kumo." She dropped the paper in her hand on the others on her desk before grabbing a cup. "I've received a letter from the Mizukage, concerning your daughter."

"Is she alright?"

"Define 'alright'." Akiko frowned, which in turn made the Hokage sigh. "From what I've read, Akane has always shown a great distress handling the pressure of being a kunoichi. Her condition now made it even worse and the Mizukage wants to make sure there is at least one person who could… 'handle' her. Preferably someone who would be keeping a close eye on her right when she steps foot in the village in a few months. It seems like the mission she is on and the distance with Kiri made her take a highly dangerous and inconsiderate decision in the Land of Lightning."

"Well...I mean Kakashi-kun is the only one who would do."

"The only one? Really?"

"Yes. She...Akane is prideful, she became prideful like any shinobi from the Hidden Mist. Showing weakness even to your close ones is a proof of deficiency. They're...extremely good at hiding their true self, she's no exception. But Kakashi-kun can bring her true emotions to the surface." Tsunade opened a bottle of sake, a second cup next to hers. She poured the alcohol in them.

"Because of Fubuki?"

"Yes, but not only that," Akiko replied, taking a cup. "He...he was the only figure of authority who was still living before. He...he was still alive. She rarely talks about this _before_ but it wouldn't surprise me if she heavily relied on him at some point in her past."

"So it would make it easier for her to talk. I was thinking about making him her referent jounin anyway, this confirms my choice." They both drank their cups in one go. "Anyway, the Mizukage is worried for her mental health. Akane has worked a lot to improve the psychological aftercare of shinobi in the Hidden Mist. Ironically, it seems like it taught her how to avoid it too."

"I don't think she's doing it on purpose, you know like me how hard it is to forget what you have been taught when young, especially depending on the methods used." There was a short silence.

"She never had therapy for the treatment she received from the Fourth Mizukage between the age of eleven and the age of thirteen, no matter the time period," Tsunade muttered, grabbing a pen. "It's no wonder Kiri is worried about her mental health. I'll have Inoichi have a seance with her when she arrives, I'll pretend it is a mandatory step or something."

"Thank you Tsunade-san." The latter sighed.

"Don't thank me, you know it doesn't come from the good of heart. She's too important by now to have a total breakdown. She knows too much, and is too efficient. I can't let her become self-destructive to the point of no return or not being able to even look at a kunai."

"I know that," Akiko said in a morose voice, "but if she can have therapy, no matter the reason, it's all that matters. Naruto, Kakashi-kun and I will keep a close eye on her too, I'll have a word about it with Naruto once he's back. I don't think he will refuse, he...he is quite mad about her decision in Kiri and will do everything he can to prevent it from happening again."

"Naruto is quite something. Well, you're free to go, I'll make some arrangement and summon Kakashi about this matter."

"Goodbye Tsunade-san."

On this note, the Uzumaki woman left the Hokage in her office.

The only thing worse than a shinobi in a mental breakdown was a powerful traumatized one in a mental breakdown. In that case, they were unpredictable...and hard to stop before it was too late.

* * *

"For God sake," I swore, dropping the burning paper on the ground before stomping on it. "Another failure."

"It's long."

"I can't risk to mess up his seal, can I?" I replied to Yugito in frustration. It only grew at her amused smirk.

"Of course not." She was having too much fun at my expense. It had been two weeks already! Of course, some of my attempts showed some good, but I was having troubling making all of it work together and with B-san's chakra and with the Hachibi's chakra.

"Stronger control to stabilize the seals between themselves," Sasuke stated, writing it in a notebook. I had asked him to come assist me a week ago, after a week mostly spent on my own. He accepted right away.

"I guess it will be all for today, sorry it's taking this long. Your seal is better I expected it to be." He rapped something I didn't even bother to listen as I caught a kunai mid-air. I frowned at the blonde kunoichi. "What are you doing?"

"I'm no expert, but frustration rarely gives anything good. I want a spar."

"Now?"

"Yes."

"With me?"

"Who else? I'm talking to you!" I stared blankly at her.

"Of course you are."

"Do it." I shot Sasuke a quizzical look. "You need it, and she's right anyway." I rolled my eyes.

"First blood?"

"Taijutsu and weapons only." I nodded and went for my club, but stopped my hands an inch from it. I grabbed it and gave it to Sasuke before unsealing Nuibari. "You are a Swordsman too then."

"Yeah, I guess I am."

"Yo, a kunoichi brawl! I'll judge to say who's the winner!" Sasuke casually walked next to him. "Uchiha's eyes will be my back-up eyes!" I pursed my lips.

"Body-flicker?" I asked Yugito. She thought about it for a second and nodded curtly.

"No fuinjutsu, it means no Hiraishin either." I smirked slightly.

"Sure." I jumped back, like her. B-san counted from three to zero and we launched at each other, fast, viciously.

I blocked her kunai with my sword. Quickly, she let go of her weapon, grabbed my blade and yanked it down, throwing her foot at me. I avoided by an inch only, her now long claw-like nails shining under a sun beam.

She threw Nuibari away.

"Okay..." Not gonna lie, I wasn't expecting this.

I braced myself when her finger nails grew longer too, and she ran straight at me. I grabbed regular kunais in each of my hands and blocked each of her attacks. There was strength in them, no doubt about it, but it was more the accuracy that was dangerous here.

Kunoichi and shinobi were made differently. Where a man had brute and raw strength, a woman had agility and speed to compensate. Raw power was useless if one didn't know where to aim it, to use it.

If you knew where to strike, you didn't have to strike half as hard than someone who just attack.

All of this to say: she knew that too.

She knew that too much for my taste. I was losing strands of hair at half of her attacks.

"Here!" I exclaimed when I finally had the chance to body-flicker to my sword. Her claws clawed a rock, five deep clean cuts in it. Yugito turned to me with a frown.

"Not a lot of people use the body-flicker technique like that."

"Yeah I know, to my knowledge only Shisui does," I said casually. Her and B-san were taken back. Right, Shisui did have a reputation. I wasn't close to his level though.

"It won't help you much though."

Our weapons clashed once again. I was about to use Nuibari and its string like Mangetsu taught me when I felt something hot running down my cheek. At Yugito's smug smile, I grunted.

I wiped the blood from the cut on my cheek. She had used the small opening she had between me getting ready to strike and actually striking to cut my cheek. Nothing major, just enough to win the spar.

"Guess I lose," I stated plainly, putting Nuibari away.

"Yugito wins!" B-san declared.

"It was good," she admitted. I raised a brow at her panting. "I'm even more tired than you."

"I can see that." However, I felt lighter thanks to the spar. Almost more focused, it helped me evacuate some...things.

The silence was broken by my rumbling stomach. I felt my cheeks flushing in shame as I patted my poor empty stomach.

We ended up in a restaurant with everyone looking at us, but for some reasons, I didn't care that much. I was relaxing for the first time in a long time.

* * *

Breath in.

Breath out.

Breath in. Don't let the Shinigami influence you.

Breath out. Walk on that straight line without falling to your loss.

Breath in. Finally catch a glimpse of a bright blue light in the darkness.

Breath out. Try to feel it.

I stretched out my hand. My fingers grazed and warmed up. I lost my focus on my balance to focus more on the warmth and fell.

I broke my trance right away. I almost fell backward but used my hands to keep me still. I was sitting crossed-legs on the floor of the room but still. You know this weird feeling when you're sleeping, you dream you fall and wake up with a start? It was roughly the same thing when I had to break the trance when I felt myself falling to the Shinigami, just in even more real. For instance, I felt the cold that came with it, unlike in your sleep.

Still, I failed. I was pretty sure it was Hashirama's soul I was seeing, but I failed at waking him up.

And where was Sasuke? He said he was going out to train but it was this morning! It was the evening now!

I bit my thumb and summoned Uma.

"Find Sasuke and make sure he didn't get into troubles."

He left and I got up, stretching out my limbs. My back cracked, like my neck, indicating I had been in the same position for way too long.

"Damn am I hungry," I muttered to myself. I put on my shoes and left to go in town.

I was used to the looks I would sometime receive, but as the Raikage had clearly let me stay, nobody dared uttering a word.

I walked through crowded streets, looking for a restaurant I was in the mood for. So far, none made my mouth water. I was in Kumo, they were known for their beef, I wanted a big old juicy beefsteak! I would take some potatoes on the side I think, no rice or anything.

"Uzumaki?" I looked up. Darui was in front of me, hands in his pockets and a surprise gaze on me.

"Darui-san...I'm hungry." Almost as if to confirm this, my stomach made itself known. I didn't even blush of shame, I kept staring at him dead in the eyes. "I want beef. And potatoes. Please. I'm done with B-san's seal, half of the job will be done tomorrow, feed me."

"Follow me then." Turns out, what I was desperately looking for was just a few meters away. It looked fancy though, I couldn't help but notice the rich and colorful decoration as I followed Darui. "A table for two please."

"You don't have to stay with me you know." He shot me a lazy look above his shoulder.

"I was coming here." My mouth formed an 'o' and I followed him to a table. "And anyway, you wouldn't have had a table if I wasn't with you. This place is very popular in the village and whole country."

"But the right-hand man of the Raikage can get a table easily..." I trailed off, already reading the menu. "Everything sounds delicious."

"It's because it is." He was proud of his village, this had never changed. He was better with no mustache too, not gonna lie.

Once we ordered, I tried to ignore the smell of others' dishes to, when it was my turn to eat, I would fully enjoy the taste.

"I have a question I really have to ask you, it's been bugging me since you first step foot in the country."

"I'll answer as well as I can."

"It's nothing related to shinobi work, or villages." This got my attention, and I stopped staring at the doors of the kitchen. "C, do you really flirt with him or do you enjoy taunting him?"

"The second one." C was cute, but really...not my type. Frankly, I didn't really have a type, and no 'Uchiha' did not count, but C was not it. "Guys like him who are, I wouldn't say stuck up, but so focused on their jobs, are the funniest to annoy." Senpai wasn't that focused on his job, I just loved getting under his skin. "If they're cute, I can't resist to fake flirting with them to trigger reactions."

"That's what I thought too." I chuckled.

"I'll let you know one thing: I'm planning of having someone like that in each village one day. I still have two to go, C was too easy to notice."

"Yeah...I see what you mean." We exchanged a look and laughed when the waiter brought the meal.

"Well, enjoy!"

I actually had a great evening with him. He walked me back to the inn and I went to my room with a smile on my face.

What was not my surprise to see a birthday cake on the desk.

"What?"

"It's your birthday." I turned around. Sasuke left the bathroom door opened, a towel around his neck and hair damped. "Happy birthday, whatever age you are." I remained silent and it made him look unsure. "Your birthday is April 27th, isn't it?"

"Yes but...I just forgot about it." I watched him lighting up the candle. "I don't even know how old I am. I died at almost thirty-seven but when I arrived here, my birthday had already happened. I guess I should just say I was thirty-seven huh..."

"Which makes you forty-five." I smiled with nostalgia.

"Yeah...yeah I guess I'm forty-five. I still look youthful so who cares?" I blew the candle.

"You made a wish?" I smirked at him.

"Not telling you." I just wished for everything to end well for everyone. I took the gift he was handing to me. "You didn't have to." He shrugged, going on his bed.

"You've given me gifts for my fourteenth and fifteenth birthdays."

I opened the box and blinked. What…

I pulled his gift and placed the box on the desk. It was a silver key chain, from which three stones were dangling.

"The navy blue one is a hawk's eye, the cyan with some orange and dark blue is a labradorite and the black one with orange triangles is a chiastolite."

"I'm guessing they have a purpose?"

"Yeah, mainly protection." I ran a finger on one of the perfectly polished stone.

"Thanks, I need it, don't I?" He scoffed.

"Yeah you do."

"You're adorable Sasuke, thanks." He blushed furiously.

"I...I'm not adorable!" I grinned.

"Yes you are!"

"I'll throw the cake in your face!"

"Nooo! I want my dessert!"

Yeah.

Truly adorable.

* * *

It was June by now. I had a talk with Yugito and Matatabi, who was pretty cool. Among other things, I was working on improving her seal, different from B's so it was more work for me, back on training with Sasuke when I had the time and hanging out with Darui every once in a while, enough for me to call me by my first name.

"I'll take some Hayashi Rice today!" I gave the menu back to the waiter, like Darui. "So, what do we talk about tonight? The weather? Being exploited by your Kage as if we didn't have a life? Wait, I'm not anymore."

"How about the fact we're being watched?" I raised a brow and followed his finger. The mane of raven hair in a booth made me snort in disdain.

"The nerve he has." He did ask me, with insistence, where I was going. Just like last time, and the one before that. "Sorry, his age catches up with him in the most annoying tim...huh? B-san?" Darui perked up at that and shot a look above his shoulder. There was no Yugito in sight, but B-san, who was trying to hide behind the plants of his booth, even if he was everything but discreet. He wasn't alone though, there was another boy with whitish blond hair and another person with red hair...Fuck it was Karui!

"Man...I'm sorry about them, it's embarrassing." I leaned my cheek in my opened hand.

"Actually, it's normal. Even if I'm not here as a kunoichi from the Mist, we are still from different villages on not so friendly terms. Maybe they're scared I'll suddenly murder you." I snickered and he sighed.

"More like the Boss asked them to follow me to spy on us." I pouted.

"And C is not there."

"Don't speak too fast." I raised my brows and grinned at the man who stomped next to our table, who leaned loudly on our table.

"What's wrong with you Darui!? You do know who she is, don't you!?"

"Yeah, so? You need to chill." He widened his eyes and pointed at me.

"Chill!? She...she's so obscene!"

"Totally Jiraya-san's books fault," I defended myself.

"She's an enemy!"

"It's not as if I had chosen where I was born." The waiter came with our dishes as C continued rambling on what an awful person I was. I took a spoonful of my meal, blew on it because I was just that considerate, got up and put it in C's opened mouth. I liked annoying him but he was being the annoying one right now. "Here, who's a good boy? It's C-kun, isn't it?" Darui hid his laughter by couching behind his closed fist as the Raikage's aide was blushing furiously.

"You...You..." he stuttered, walking away. I grinned.

"Me? I just took your breath away, didn't I?" He blushed even more and left in the blink of an eye. I sat back down and laughed as quietly as I could. "It never gets old to creep people out." No wonder Kakashi loved trolling his students, and people in general.

Heh…

I may be a bad influence on Sasuke, but his sensei definitely was a bad influence on me. Or I was exposed to Obito when I was too young.

Huh…

Didn't he promise me to make me a princess or some shit the day he'd become the Hokage?

He made me something, but it was far from a princess.

* * *

"Are you sure of that Tsunade-sama?"

"Something to say Kakashi?" The jounin hesitated between taking his book and saying what he was thinking casually or showing he was actually concerned about her choice. Well, he opted for the latter, Tsunade would notice he wasn't really reading anyway.

"I understand why Akiko-san would want me to keep an eye on Akane, I'd do it anyway but...I think we can all agree I'm not that mentally stable either. If what you gave me is true then..."

"Being in charge of Team Seven helped though."

"Yeah, but that team isn't really a team. Naruto is away with Jiraya-sama for training and went into a war zone and against the Sanbi, Sasuke defected to Orochimaru and _wanted_ to get out of his own village because he couldn't identify himself in it and Sakura is under your care and now a chuunin. I haven't seen any of my students for more than two years, and one of them is still in the village."

"Your point Hatake?" Tsunade asked him curtly.

"My point is, even if I can potentially handle her..." Kakashi showed the file Tsunade gave him, where the word 'insubordination' was in bold letters, "problem with authority, I might not be able to deal with her instability. She was fired from the Kiri ANBU for insubordination. I mean..."

"And who apart you could possibly be her jounin referent? If I'm correct, the other two who could, _maybe_ , do the job are or in rehabilitation, or away of the village. I doubt she would just listen to them anyway."

"Sure but...what if we both go down in the end?" Tsunade frowned.

"For God sake Hatake, get a grip of yourself! You've known the girl for most of her life, you're in charge of her for her stay in Konoha period!"

Kakashi bowed and left.

Truth be told, Tsunade was fully aware of what Kakashi was so afraid. She knew him, knew his background. It was a risky choice, to put these two as a team.

She didn't have any other choice. Akiko knew her daughter, and said daughter was fired from the ANBU for not respecting orders.

Tsunade could not let that happen.

Now, she could only hope Kakashi wouldn't let his old demons take over because he was seeing himself in Akane.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought of this chapter!**

 **Bye!**


	78. Kumo Arc: Final

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes or any OCCness.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 21**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 15 / 16**

 **Shisui: 24**

 **Kakashi: 29**

* * *

"How does it feel?" Yugito pursed her lips, red chakra pouring slightly around her.

"Harder to reach, but nothing impossible to fix with some training. Matatabi said it was normal." I nodded.

"Yeah, as you and B-san...well you actually work pretty well with Matatabi and Gyūki so making their chakra harder to reach is nothing you can't handle." She nodded to confirm.

"Indeed, and it will slow them down, be it to extract them or break the reinforcement of our seals. Thank you Uzumaki-san." I waved her off.

"I'm not a fan of honorifics or use of last name." She frowned.

"It's politeness."

"It's annoying. Why would I use honorifics for someone who's not worthy of it? I use them when I have to, but it sucks."

"The point of view depends of the background." I snorted as I dusted myself.

"Guess so. We'll see each other again tomorrow to see if there is anything weird and then, we're done." Behind me, Sasuke was thrown to the ground, the lightning blade in his right hand disappearing as his regular katana was in the dirt next to him. "Sasuke, you're having your ass _kicked_!"

"Shut up!" he managed to say with a split lip, his teeth red from the blood.

"It's not half bad yo!" I snickered.

He asked B to train with swords. B accepted.

He used four swords. _Four_ instead of _eight_. The only reason Sasuke had been keeping up so long was because of his sharingans and fucking Mangetsu Hozuki.

Although, my late best friend, rest his soul, was probably wincing at each blow reaching Sasuke, and was jealous of the Uchiha for having a spar with B.

I missed him.

Our stay was almost over though. Sasuke's birthday was next week actually. We had been in the same place for more than three months now, damn I had an actual friendly relationship with Yugito! We weren't the best of friends, but yeah.

Also, Darui and I finally admitted they were dates. Nothing more happened, we never kissed or anything, but dates.

It felt good, so who cared? It wasn't as if it would be anything serious anyway.

Sasuke wasn't happy about it. I mean, he saw I actually liked the guy and said guy wasn't bad.

The next day went well, and I was officially done with the Kumo jinchurikis.

Now it was time to wait for the Raikage to call for us.

* * *

"So, I've heard about your newest relationship," the Raikage said in an accusing tone.

"Ah, yes. I guess, sorry Boss. She leaves soon anyway, it's not serious." A scoffed.

"Of course it's not! You're not the kind of man to fall for the foreign charm!" C nodded vigorously behind him. "At least you've learned interesting things from your...hobby?" Darui shrugged.

"She's very careful about what she says, even if she doesn't look like it. I mean...her birthday's in April?" His Kage stared at him, clearly expecting more. "She loves the beef in the _Thunder Eatery_?" The Raikage thumped in his thigh with his fist.

"Of course she does, it's the best damn restaurant in all Kumo and our beef is excellent! Anything about their jinchurikis? How Kiri is now Yagura is gone? Its relations with Konoha or Suna? Anything interesting Darui! Konoha, Kiri and Suna are working together and we won't stand there waiting for something to happen! I won't let them give the first blow!"

"Hrgh...I mean, she's not a fan of the Tsuchikage but she made that clear to you when you received her and the Uchiha." He liked the girl, don't get him wrong, but he was loyal to his Kage and although he would feel bad if he was the one giving crucial information to kill an important figure for not just Kiri, but Konoha too apparently, ultimately the guilt would go away.

It was how shinobi worked.

However, he couldn't think of _anything_ that could possibly be important.

"She enjoys flirting with C because she finds his reactions hilarious Boss." He felt C tensing behind him. Meh, better C than him.

The Raikage set his eyes on his aide.

"What reactions?"

"No...nothing Raikage-sama! She's...she's..."

"She winks at you and you react as if she had offended you by insulting someone." No, Darui had no remorse taking his fellow jounin down if it was to save his own skin. He went on dates with a girl younger than him by four years. Yes, she was from Kiri, but she had not showed any signs of hostility ever since they arrived.

"What!?" The Raikage yelled, jumping on his feet with bulging eyes. "She _winks_ and you lose your composure!? Is that what it is!?" C stepped back, his hands in front of him.

"Of course not Raikage-sama! But it's obvious there's more!"

"Darui!?"

"Nah, she really loves annoying him for her own personal enjoyment." The Raikage glared at the sensor.

"It's a woman, just a woman! You're a shinobi! Shinobi don't lose their composure because a woman winks or flirt with them! And don' tell me it's because she's powerful! If anything, you have even less reasons to show she can trouble you that easily!" He turned to his right-hand man. "And? You better have something other than C's weakness!"

"Well...I guess the Uchiha, Sasuke." This got their full attention. "She didn't say it explicitly, but I think it has been a while since they've been working as a pair. As Konoha and Kiri are pretty much allies now, I wouldn't be surprised if they lend Akane to Konoha for a while."

"It's not surprising, she knows the Hiraishin. It's a bitter pill to swallow for Konoha to have their Fourth Hokage's signature move in the hand of another village which was the weakest of the five not so long ago."

"Do you think they might try to abduct her?"

"Why bother doing that when they have Uchihas who can make her defect on her own?" A sat back down. "Who knows if it's not already the case. That Uchiha, Sasuke, is good. His sharingan is not the regular one. For all we know they pretended to be friendly with Kiri when in reality Konoha is slowly stealing a precious element."

"And with Kiri state after their coup, they would not notice a thing," C added, his chin between his fingers. "I heard rumors about how she was friends with Kakashi Hatake, and at least two powerful Uchihas."

"All Sharingan wielder. Humph, she might not be free of her actions right now and everything could be a scheme from Konoha."

"Boss?"

"Tomorrow I'll tell them to leave." A looked at the two. "Don't let them leave this county alive."

"Wait Boss, wouldn't that be us waging war?" Darui asked with wide eyes.

"On villages weaker than us, still rebuilding. Accidents happened. Get the Uchiha's eyes. The girl's body too, let's have some medics examine her Ice Release."

It was extreme.

After all, or she was an excellent actress, and in this case he was a fool, or she was genuine and it would be two innocent people murdered to make sure Kumo was safe, even if there was no danger.

Darui was loyal to his village.

Even if it sometimes left a bad taste in his mouth.

* * *

"Do you have an answer to their proposal, Raikage-sama?"

"I do," he replied calmly. "Kumo won't be a part of the alliance between Konoha, Kiri and Suna." I kept a straight face. I would not pretend I was certain he would accept, but I had a little bit of hope.

He knew, it was all that mattered.

I bowed respectfully.

"Thank you for your time. We shall take our leave now." He waved us off.

We left Kumogakure without a word. A's shinobi stopped escorting us once we were out of the village perimeter. The mission was over now.

I sighed softly.

I wanted to go to Konoha, hug Mom and not let go. After a break I'd be good to go, my mind needed a break. It was a good thing we had not received any word from Konoha or Jiraya-san saying Naruto was back in Konoha. We had some time.

"But you need someone to proofread it." I glared playfully at Sasuke, who was keeping an eye on the fishes grilling in the fire. "If it is published one day and people discover I was there the whole time, my reputation will be destroyed."

"You reputation." He nodded and I furrowed my brows. "Of course, how heartless I am for not thinking about your reputation."

"You said it, not me." I rolled my eyes.

"No, I'll ask Jiraya-san if he has the time." He scoffed.

"He'll tell you to add sketchy lines."

"Stop pouting, it was cute eight years ago." He ignored me. Little shit.

Once the fishes were eaten and Sasuke was ready to take the first watch, I jumped on my feet. He shot me a strange look.

"We've got company," I mouthed to him silently. Now, I had not really taught him sensing, my way of doing it would be too dangerous anyway. I taught him the necessary to not get killed in the mist.

I showed him my eye, asking him if he could cast a genjutsu.

"Follow my lead," he mouthed back. Slowly, carefully, we packed our things as I felt a change in the air.

Chakra.

Surprise, Sasuke didn't need his eyes to use genjutsu. Well yes, I showed him mine to give the message but it was because the Sharingan and genjutsu were the best of friends.

As annoying as it could be, unfortunately.

We jumped in a tree and used the foliage to hide. Three shinobi wearing Kumo gear appeared and I sighed as they circled the genjutsu they were seeing.

Kumo huh...Come on Raikage-sama, I worked for free and that was how you thanked me.

"Let's go."

"Just like that?"

"If we don't hit, we're innocent." Sasuke shot one last look at them, probably jounins, grunted and we started moving.

"We can't stay on the same road."

"Yeah, you remember the way to the sea?"

"Yes, but why?"

"We're going to Uzushio." This got his attention. "I want to do some more research, and I have a marker there. They won't notice a thing and the Raikage will be pissed we escape without a fight, serves him right."

Usually, in those kind of plans, something goes horribly wrong and there's a big fight. Well, not necessarily big, but a fight.

Not here.

I was an expert at running away from shinobi. Foreign shinobi I mean, Kiri-nin knew all of my tricks after the first attempt.

Anyway, we reached the sea. Behind us, a group of shinobi, C and Darui in them. I grinned at them and waved.

I barely heard someone saying I was going to teleport that I grabbed Sasuke and did.

I was pretty sure Sasuke gave them the finger.

"I did," he confirmed once we were in the Land of Eddie. "Those fuckers from the Cloud thought they could kill us just like that. We didn't attack them or even hurt them, they can't do shit." I blinked at him. "What?"

"Nothing, just wondering if you were that vulgar before or if it's my fault."

"Both. I'm a ninja, cursing is normal." He wasn't wrong there. "And you all curse all the time in Kiri."

"It's called expressing yourself. Did you know people who curse are actually more honest in life?" He snorted with disdain.

"I'm not even surprised." I rolled my eyes. "So, how long do we stay here? It's not as if we will find a lot of food here."

"We'll see, we'll see."

* * *

"Did I have to come down as well?" Sasuke grumbled as I was already looking around in the Shinigami room. "You can make clones to help you."

"Yeah, but you never know what or who is lurking around so I don't want you out of my sight." I was pretty sure he rolled his eyes in exasperation, but I didn't care. I wasn't physically keeping him here anyway.

"You don't feel the heavy atmosphere of the room?" I turned my head to look at him. "I wanted to die back then and even if it's less strong today, it's still...lingering in the air."

"Well...the Shinigami likes dead people." I noticed a door under, behind the altar. "I mean, from the effects there are during my meditation sessions, the sooner he gets souls for good the better."

"Let's say you break your seal though, would it settle for just one? You said the other ones would be freed." I shrugged.

"I mean...he'd get a soul that would replace mine, so...it would be good enough to make up for the rest." I opened the door and couched at the dust. I waved my hand in front of my face to clear up the air and grunted in frustration at the single note inside.

I took it.

"For...I hate my ancestors!"

"What?"

"They moved some information to the temple near Konoha. For safety they wrote." I put the note back and close the door. "I'm not leaving this island without knowing something new!"

"Great," Sasuke muttered under his breath. "Can we go back to the surface?"

"Yeah."

I squinted at the beaming July sun. Hopefully, no one had touched these information.

We walked around for the rest of the day, just searching through ruins. I felt bad about going into still standing homes, but no one would come and tell me I was stealing. Now, the Uzumaki compound was not explored in its entirety, but it was not the only place where there could be information.

The Academy and the Kage building had to have some too.

The Uzukage huh…

"Let's go to the Academy. Then the Kage building."

"Hn." He didn't need to say anything for me to know he was as uncomfortable as I was to go in Okinu-san's old office.

There was no water in the Academy. One of the classroom had two walls and a part of the roof destroyed. The desks and chairs were on the floor, books and sheets of paper spread on the floor. Plants had been taking over, but nothing washed off the splatters of blood on the wall.

Konoha had taken care of the bodies but...some stains were indelible.

Nothing would hide the massacre that happened in this now ghost town.

I looked through the books in the crumbling bookshelf. Some were in a too poor condition to be opened, so I let them.

Shinobi History, there was one about chakra and the network in the body, some basic chakra control exercises…

 _The History of the Uzumakis and the Fundation of Uzushiogakure_.

I sealed this one away.

I went to the desk of the teacher. An old photo was on it, dusty and the glass was broken, but I could see around fifteen children and a woman next to them.

I looked around the classroom. This had been a school, children...I knew they must have been evacuated and the blood here might be some of a shinobi who fought but…

Children.

I put the frame down, the photo facing the desk, and left to go in the hallway. I made two clones to examine the rest of the first floor before going up the stairs.

"Ahh!" I screamed as my foot went through the wood of a step.

"Right, the wood is rotten, be careful!" Sasuke's voice told me above my head. I raised mine and glared at his smirk.

"Thanks for nothing!" I reached the second floor eventually. Sasuke was looking both sides. "Let me guess, the wood is rotten."

"Hn." I started to make a step but he grabbed me by my collar. "Wait a second." He pulled a shuriken from his back pouch and tossed it on the floor I was about to step on. It landed smoothly on the wood.

Wood that cracked at the new weight.

"Okayyy thanks for this one." He let go of me. "Let's be car...oh, the teacher's lounge."

I followed the wall closely and reached said room, Sasuke joining me a second after.

It was a mess. Cupboards opened wide on the floor, a sign above an empty cabinet saying 'First Aid Kits – Emergency only', a weapon cabinet empty. The glass was tainted in a disgusting brown.

Old, very old blood.

We dug around in silence.

It was strange. They had been massacred, my clan had been massacred but I just...felt so detached from it. It was a part of me, I knew that, but it was just...so foreign at the same time.

"Hey, take a look at this." I went to Sasuke, who had an old file in his hands. I widened my eyes and stole it from him when I recognized Mom's name.

"Uzumaki Akiko. Father: Uzumaki Fujio. Mother: Uzumaki Chitose. I know that...oh, difficulties in taijutsu and genjutsu, strong in fuinjutsu, barriers and ninjutsu. Average in shuriken jutsu. Heh, we know why I'm not great at genjutsu now."

"I think I saw the name 'Uzumaki Fujio' earlier." I raised a brow at him.

I gazed one more time at the file. Actually, I sealed it away too.

Sasuke left the room and I kept looking around. They were just old files of students.

"Nee-san!" I jumped on my feet and ran. I slid in the room Sasuke was in.

"What!?"

"Ah, calm down." I deadpanned at him. He was the one who screamed the… "Anyway, Fujio, the guy was the Headmaster."

"Seriously? Damn. I've got a teacher in my family." I walked around the desk as Sasuke started looking around and I froze at the picture on the desk.

I took it in my trembling hands.

I recognized Aunty right away, grinning at the camera and hugging an older girl's waist, who was also smiling. I grazed the face with a finger.

Mom.

Behind her was a couple, behind Aunty was a couple.

My grandparents and Naruto's grandparents.

"They reinforced the defenses around the village not long before they were attacked," Sasuke suddenly told me. I put the photograph in a sealing tag.

"Yeah?"

"Maybe they noticed weird movements in other villages."

"Yeah...yeah maybe. Huh...let's go to the Kage building, 'kay?"

"You're alright?"

"Yes, just...nothing." He clearly knew I was lying, but let it go nonetheless.

We left the Academy. To my surprise, the sky was already filling itself with stars.

"Change of plan, we sleep," he said, walking before me. "And eat." We did.

"Oh right!" I yelled later after diner. I rummaged and took a paper tag. I gave it to Sasuke, who accepted it. "Happy birthday!"

He blinked at me in confusion.

"It was the twenty-third. Today is the twenty-ninth."

"Yeah I know, I'm late, but I gave you a present."

He unsealed the items. Two pairs of fingerless gloves.

"Gloves," he stated blankly. "One pair is too small."

"Come one, you're supposed to have good eyes." He raised a brow and looked more closely.

"Seals?" I nodded.

"Before I could make seals from my bare hands, I worked on a pair of gloves which had the seals written on them. These ones were used during my Chuunin Exams and until the day before I left on the mission Shisui met me. It's pretty useful as fuinjutsu users have to _always_ prepare a lot before a fight or a mission." His eyes were not detaching from the gloves and I laughed. "You see the point now? You're far from using seal spontaneously in fights like I do, but it will do the job just fine.

"Thank you," he whispered with sincerity. Heh, Naruto was an Uzumaki but Sasuke was so much more into fuinjutsu than him, always has been.

Even _before_ it was like that.

The new gloves I got him were in a thick fabric, a deep navy blue and went up to the middle of his forearm. There were small metal plates on the back of the hand.

"The fabric is chakra resistant, but to a certain point only. Getting the right seal on the glove is hard, I remember having Harusame-san to help me on some points."

"I can imagine, explosive tags disappear with the explosion. This...the seal needs to be pushed forward and stay separate of the glove."

"Challenging, isn't it?"

* * *

"Please tell me it's the last one," I mumbled as I threw a deactivated seal on the ground. Sasuke's sharingans scanned the area one last time and he nodded, but his eyes remained red.

We stayed wary of our surroundings, who knew what kind of traps Uzumakis could have lay down here, and made our way to the Uzukage's office. It was dusty, but surprisingly like carved in stone.

Nothing seemed to have changed since the village was attacked.

Everything was locked with a seal. It took some time, but an important looking metal cabinet was finally unlocked.

"Damn," Sasuke said once he had a file, "I thought you were paranoid, but I barely can understand it."

Old fuin, everything was in old fuin.

"Put the ones you don't understand aside, I'll give them a look later." We dug through more files for some time.

"'Dear Hiruzen, I have noticed some unusual movements in the eastern sea. I think the Hidden Mist and the Hidden Cloud might be up to something. As I know Konoha is currently busy with keeping Iwa at bay during this war, I thought I could send some of my men and women to verify my worries. If you could send me Sakumo-san for a little a while, I would appreciate. He's a great leader. With all my respect. Uzumaki Okuni, Second Uzukage.'" He made a long pause. "It was back during the Second Great Ninja War."

"You mean when the Sandaime could still lead a village?" I sounded bitter, but did not care. Sure, he had been a nice man, respected and all but…

I couldn't forget how he covered Danzo _before,_ how he made us think Naruto died with his parents or how we couldn't tell him anything about them.

Wait, did Sasuke mention a 'Sakumo'? Like Hatake Sakumo? Like Kakashi's dad, like the White Fang?

Damn.

"Do you think his suspicion about Kumo and Kiri was what led to Uzushio destruction?"

"Probably. Kumo and Iwa were a part of the coalition, nobody clearly stated in front of me Kiri was involved but...it wouldn't surprise me. Konoha was their ally and there's no way Suna would have come here, an island would mean death for them." I frowned, thinking. "Well for Iwa too I guess, and the distance is about the same. But Suna always had the reputation to be the weakest village." I sighed. "It's in the past anyway, there's prescription. The Second War is way behind us."

Uzushio would remain a memory.

I picked up a file Sasuke put next to me as he was reading another one and started studying him. My eyes were irritated from all of the letters they had seen since we arrived on this island.

My own patience was running thin. I liked digging around Uzushio, as morbid it could sound, so much had been lost I wanted tor recover as much as possible. But there had almost been nothing so…

I blinked several times at the words under my eyes. Old fuin, it was written in old fuin but…

"'Dear Umiko, I understand why you wanted to separate the knowledge about the Shinigami..." I perked up at that and started listening attentively. "...however, I still fear another Yurei might appear one day. I do not wish for one of our descendants to accidentally succeed this kinjutsu and not understand what happened. It wrecked you mentally, the longer you stay alive with the seal, the more the Shinigami influences you, we both know it." Huh… "I have taken the liberty to keep some basic knowledge around, it is safe in the village. The rest, as you know, is hidden in the Uzumaki temple near the Leaf. Also, about the letter you sent me, I think you should come back home. Uchiha Madara is dangerous, and if Hashirama-sama warned you he knew about you, then Konoha is no longer safe. Mito also shared her concerns to me not long ago. Please come back to your family. It has been twenty years since you've changed, and Yureis do not usually live that long after they 'arrived' My warmest affections. Your little brother, Okuni.'"

"Wait, brother?" I repeated, dumbfounded. "He was her younger brother?"

"He knew a lot about Yureis."

"Yeah but...I thought it was because he was the Uzukage."

"Anyway, the longer you have the seal, the harder it will be to remain yourself so to speak. It has taken decades for her but..."

"It's almost been a decade for me." I took a shaky breath. "Anyway, what I found is troubling. We need to follow its directions, there's a map. And I mean 'we' as Uzumaki and Uchiha." Sasuke raised a brow. "I...think the Uzumakis knew about that stone you keep in your clan?" He opened his eyes wide.

"It's impossible, we keep it hidden."

"Yeah but...you can't know the entire story, never." I got up and stretched out my legs before sealing the rest away. I had to put the seals back up anyway.

It took an hour, but after we went to the beach at the north of the island. Sasuke summoned Garuda.

"I mean it seems like it's isolated but not hard to find," I told him, my eyes on the map. A few minutes went by for him to speak.

"I think we're here." I tilted my head. The small dot in the vast blue sea was getting bigger and bigger. Good, soon we would know what the fu…

"Stop!" Garuda stopped abruptly.

"What?" Sasuke asked me. I made the tiger sign and closed my eyes, expanding my sensing range as much as I could.

Sasuke's was warm, as any chakra, but had this colder touch to ts ever since he awakened his Mangekyou. Garuda's was similar to any summon creatured. But on the island…

I felt a drop of sweat roll down my forehead.

Hoshikagi-san. This huge ferocious chakra, with this hungry one...Hoshigaki-san and Samehada, I felt them too many times in both lifetime to mistake them for anything else. However, if he was here, it was not his choice.

Dad was here too. He was faint, but here. He was probably inside.

"Dad and Hoshigaki-san are here, we've gotta to go." He frowned and I grabbed some of the hawk's feathers to stay on it. He turned back very fast.

"We run too much into the Akatsuki," Sasuke hissed and I chuckled nervously.

"Agree. A hundred percent agree."

* * *

"What's that?" Kisame wondered out loud, the dot in the sky becoming smaller and smaller. Samehada made a noise next to him, as if she was answering. "You felt weird chakra you say?"

"Okay, sorry for the wait, I'm done!" Ushio exclaimed to him as he exited the cave. He took a deep breath. "I miss the sea sometimes."

"You sure act carefree Ushio-san."

"Why wouldn't I? By the way, what did Samehada say?"

"She felt a weird chakra." The sword made more noise. "A deadly one apparently."

"Deadly huh..." the Uzumaki repeated slowly, his eyes set on the sand beneath his sandals.

"Ushio-san? Should we investigate?"

"No, no need. If it's gone now, it's useless to waste energy for that." Their rings glowed. "It seems like Pain-sama wants to see us."

The rings granted them the ability to reach their leader at any time the latter wished. As the duo thought, when they found themselves on top of giant rock fingers, the rest of the Akatsuki was gathered.

Ushio ignored Hidan's mad look on him. He lost to Akane, and ever since he couldn't talk as he lost his tongue. Funny enough, he heard many of them thanking his daughter for this.

It was funny.

"What's the reason for gathering us, yeah?" Deidara asked, rather impatient.

"I gathered you here today to make an announcement. From now on, the priority of the Akatsuki is the capture of the bijuus. Every other missions to gather money is secondary until you each have collected your bijuu."

"Finally," Sasori drawled.

"Sasori, Deidara, you will go first. Capture the Kazekage. As for the others, start looking for yours."

"The jinchuriki from Taki is in Konoha though, right?" Kisame asked his leader. "Maybe Ushio-san and I should take care of it with the Kyuubi, Hidan already lost a lot to Ushio-san's kid." This got him most probably insults from Hidan, who could not say a word.

"Seriously, how did you not know she was my daughter? You must be the only one who didn't know Hidan," Ushio added with a smirk. Before Hidan could do anything more, Kakuzu sighed.

"We'll leave now." He disappeared.

"I gotta say she seems fun, yeah." Deidara narrowed his eyes. "The Uchiha with her no. He's like his brother with black flames and all."

"Deidara, we have somewhere to go now." Sasori disappeared.

"Sure my man." The blond disappeared too.

"Ushio."

"Leader-sama."

"Your daughter and her apprentice have been trouble ever since they left Kiri. They took a jinchuriki from us.

"They traveled around to find jinchuriksi to warn them about us," White Zetsu said before Black Zetsu added. "They met all of them and she did something to the seals."

"You better make sure to undo what she did if it's blocking the extraction of the bijuu. Kisame, you know more than any of us how she fights. She's being more trouble than she's worth, kill her when you have the chance. Now leave." They did, now out of the dark cave and back on the sunny beach.

"You won't mind me fighting Akane Ushio-san? I have to say I am curious of what she can do now."

"You've got orders Kisame," Ushio responded, getting up. "Anyway, let's go back to the continent. Be it Naruto or your target, they're far from here."

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought of this chapter! Thanks to realfan16 for the review!**

 **Bye!**


	79. Kazekage Arc: Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own the OCs in this fic, the rest is Masashi Kishomoto's. Sorry for any spelling mistakes or any OCCness.**

 **Character age:**

 **Akane, Itachi: 21**

 **Naruto, Sasuke: 15 / 16**

 **Shisui: 24**

 **Kakashi: 29**

* * *

"What do you think?" I asked Sasuke as I exited the changing room.

"It's clothes, it cover your skin." His eyes stayed a little bit longer on the exposed skin between my short and my thigh-high boots. "Most of it."

"Come on, it's ten centimeters! It's less than before now I wear leg warmers underneath."

"We literally went in snowstorms in missions and you were not even shivering. Now it's summer and we're in the Land of Fire you wear _leg warmers_?" He sighed and shook his head in despair. "How come Uzumakis are so weird when it comes to clothing? That or bright orange..."

"Yeah? Then what's that big target you used to wear all the time, huh? Or the high collar? Your white shorts?"

"Hn." He looked away and went to a changing room. I went back in mine. My outfit was not that different. The shorts were black and in cotton, lighter than back in Kiri. My kimono top was still burgundy, but the sleeves were both ending after my fingertips, hiding my hands. I still had my mesh tank top underneath, with a mesh piece of fabric that covered my left arm from the shoulder to the tip of my fingers. My other arm was bare.

I changed back to my usual clothes and went to pay.

"Add that," Sasuke said next to me, putting items on the counter. I watched them piling up on top of each other blankly. "Thanks for paying." He left, hands in his pockets.

"It will be fifteen thousand ryō." I gulped quietly and handed the cashier the money. My smile was wavering when I exited the story with the bags. Sasuke was waiting in front of it, a smug smirk on his face.

"You'll pay for that. Literally I hope." His smirk grew larger and I almost threw him his stuff. "Piss off!"

"No need to be in such a bad mood." I glared at him. My wallet was empty.

I had a look at what I bought the next day, when I went down the stairs of the inn. Sasuke was paying for the rooms. His top was a grayish dark blue, the sleeves went to his elbows, their edges and the collar being beige. He was wearing the pair of gloves I bought him, still sealess. Then, there was a gray obi around his waist, all around the stomach area. Keeping the kimono top closed. The mesh armor was still visible though, on the top of his chest and slightly under his sleeves. Then, he had pants the same color than his top, stopping above his ankles, and black sandals.

Heh, it was different from his previous attire in Konoha, but it was definitely more Land of Fire-ish. It was clearly lighter to wear than Kiri attires.

Oh, and he had one big beige pouch tied to his waist down his back. His kunai and shuriken holder was still around his left thigh.

I approved. He would add the Uchiha fan on his back later on and bam! Uchiha Sasuke was back in the Leaf!

"If you're done checking me out, let's go." I followed him, my arms crossed. He had one stripe of his backpack on his shoulder. Mine was strapped across my abdomen because of the club on my back.

"I was going to compliment your attire, now I'm reconsidering it." He scoffed. "Please tell me you're done with Uchiha collars. They're ridiculous."

"I think I am."

"You think I can get you brother to stop wearing them too?" He shouldn't hide his jawline, and I was speaking for the entire lady population here. He probably wanted to hide his weak spot though.

"Give good arguments." I really hated these high collars. Urgh. Bad taste.

You bet my daughter was a fashion addict, I was more into it than I would have ever thought.

"Let's go to that temple," I decided, taking the lead.

"You've been saying that since we left the Land of Eddies. Two weeks ago."

It was mid-August now.

"And now we're going!" The thick foliage the forest of the Land of Fire had to offer soon surrounded us. It was good, it kept the heat of the sun from getting to me too quickly. "Anyway, sum up what we've found in the stuff we pretty much stole."

"Nobody will ask for it anyway," he muttered. "At an unknown moment in time, a woman named Uchiha Saya started to question the way my clan praised the stone tablet. She knew a man called Uzumaki Eiji and asked for his opinion. It seems like there was...there is indeed something, but she passed away before verifying the facts. However, apparently, the Uzumaki clan has a proof the tablet might be...incorrect." I pursed my lips.

"If it's true then...a lot could have been avoided."

* * *

"I'm home!" Naruto screamed, almost knocking the door down when he opened it. He was just back from his trip with Jiraya, who was right behind him. However, his aunt wasn't there. Instead, there was a green-haired girl with a dark complexion, staring at him with stupefaction. "What the...what are you doing at my place!?"

"I live here!" He stared back at her with wide eyes. "Who are you!?"

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto dattebayo!" Something akin to recognition flashed in his orange eyes, but before she could say anything, they heard a bark. "Why is there a dog..." A big black rottweiler trotted inside the living-room from the backyard. The dog had a long scar on his back. "Hey stop barking!"

"You're really not good with dogs, are you?" Jiraya pointed out, taking his shoes off.

"Ganbaru!" They all turned their eyes to the red-haired woman on the patio. She had dirt on her pants and gloves, her tied hair now a mess. She walked back inside. "Sit. Fū, this is my nephew, Naruto. Naruto, it's Fū, she has been living here for the past few months now to get used to Konoha." Akiko walked up to the teenager. "My God, you grew so much taller." Naruto grinned at her.

"Hehe, I've eaten well like you asked!" He threw his arms around her, his embrace immediately returned.

"Akiko, I'm here too," Jiraya reminded her, pointing himself with his finger.

"Go drink with Tsunade-san," she replied with a sweet smile.

"Yeah, there is a touching reunion happening if you haven't noticed Pervy Sage!" Jiraya twitched.

"I have noticed." His eyes found Fū's and he stepped forward. "So you're the Nanabi jinchuriki then."

"Yeah...you're Jiraya of the Sannin? The real one?" He snickered, taking his chin between his fingers.

"Hehe, it is I indeed! I'm..."

"Hey, jinchuriki?" Naruto interrupted him. He almost tripped on his own two feet. "What?"

"You're the Naruto Sasuke-san always complained about!" A vein popped on his forehead.

"What did that teme...how do you know him?"

"Well, to begin with, Sasuke is not in the village for now. He left not long after you for Kiri." Naruto looked confused. "Akane came with Itachi and Utakata and he managed to convince Tsunade-san to send him over there for a year and a half."

"She reestablished the Honorary Shinobi program?"

"It's still new, but yes. And well, with what happened before, Akane asked his parents if he could stay if he wanted to after the end until you and Jiraya-san came back. They're both traveling for a mission for now, during which they met Fū and sent her here."

"A mission? What kind of mission?"

"Akane-san is warning us jinchuriki about the danger of the Akatsuki! Sasuke's is her apprentice from what I understood."

"So nee-chan is with Sasuke again..." He looked down, his fists clenched by his sides. Sasuke had monopolized her again then...He raised his head when his aunt patted his shoulder.

"You know, she was sad you were already gone when she came. She kept refusing training Sasuke too." It seemed to make him feel better. "Anyway, let's feast tonight!"

"Yeah!" Naruto and Fū shouted.

"Jiraya-san, will you join us?"

"No thanks, as you said, I will enjoy my return to the village by a good drink. Naruto, see you later. Bye!" The door made no sound when it closed behind him.

"Well, I'll get change, invite someone else and buy some groceries. In the meantime, get to know each other, alright? And it goes for Ganbaru too, he has been here for over a year, so be nice Naruto."

"Sure."

Of course, Naruto was more than happy to see Iruka walking through the door a couple of hours later.

* * *

"Alright. We agree the whole tablet thing is not here, right?" I asked him once we were on the steps of the temple. He nodded without a word.

"We'll have to go back to that island," he reminded me sternly.

"I know, I know. But not now." The inside was dark, the setting sun outside giving an orange shade to the top of the wall. "Alright, let's..."

"Found it." I spun on my heels. Sasuke had pushed a mask that looked like the Shinigami one. The one I stole a couple of years ago. There was a niche inside. "There's a genjutsu seal next to it to hide it." I frowned at his red eyes.

"Of course Mister-I-see-through-genjutsu-because-I-have-red-eyes." I caught the scroll he threw at me. I sat on the steps in front of the temple. The seal on the scroll was strange. It was not like a regular locking seal, more like…

Oh, it reminded me of the Shinigami door.

I focused on my left arm, purple energy quickly forming the Claw around it. Sasuke stepped back right away.

My finger poked the seal, which disappeared immediately. The Claw vanished right after.

"What have you hidden Umiko...Ha!" I put my finger on a sentence. "Found it. It says: 'Only the most extraordinary, powerful souls can be 'awakened' when the Claw is attained. Once the Claw reached the seal, the souls can be summoned, with a body as a vassal. As long as the Yurei is standing, so are the souls. However, if one soul is powerful enough, it is possible for them to 'possess' the Yurei, like the jinchurikis in a way. In that case, the Yurei is forced in the soul's place in the mind.' So that's what happened with the Raikage!"

"So the Fourth just possessed you for a few seconds?"

"He must have sensed the danger before me and knew I would be killed on the spot."

"He is the Fourth Hokage after all," Sasuke muttered, rubbing his neck.

"You're okay?"

"Yeah, I just feel...I'm probably just tired." I looked at the sky. The night would start to fall soon.

"Let's set up camp." I went to pick up wood, leaving Sasuke setting up the rest. When I got back, I was taken back by the dark circles under his eyes. I put the wood between the stones he gathered. "Light the fire and then lay back. You look awful." He did. I stared blankly at his shaking hands.

"I must have caught a cold," he mumbled, leaning back on a tree.

It was fucking August.

He barely ate and fell asleep when he closed his eyes for more than a second. I checked his temperature, but nothing.

Weird.

As I was on watch, and would most probably not sleep at all, I picked up Jiraya-san's book. The first one, not the perverted ones. Careful of the fire, I threw twigs here and then to keep it going, my eyes glued to the pages.

I raised my head abruptly when I heard a noise, like someone moving in a bush. There was nothing though.

I went back to reading.

Until another noise happened. I made a shadow clone and sent her. Damn, I hope it wasn't any Akatsuki members. With Sasuke in that state, there was no way I would protect him and defeat them.

I covered my ears, my book falling on the ground, when a piercing scream resonated behind me, in the temple. It was like a woman was being slaughtered in there!

" **Make that stop!** " Tobirama yelled in my head, making it even worse.

My clone burst into view and I ran to the temple. I opened the door wide, but nothing.

There was nothing.

But...I heard…

What?

I jumped when I had a flash of my clone, and ran back to Sasuke. I froze in my steps and grasped my left arm. It was warming up against my will.

It was probably the figure on all four above Sasuke. All clad in white, thick black hair fell on both side of the head, hiding the face. However, the little skin I could see on the hands and feet was not reassuring.

It was too skinny to be healthy. Too gray to be lively.

They turned their face to me and I fought against stepping back.

They didn't have eyes, just two holes. No nose either.

Great.

A fucking ghost.

They turned their head back to Sasuke. A bony finger grazed Sasuke's chest up to the carotid. Sasuke was breathing heavily, sweating a lot.

I had to do something, and now.

Alright, ghosts...Ghosts were wandering souls! Souls not resting yet! I could get souls!

I never felt more comfortable at the idea of using the Claw, now that the cold power was running my veins and surrounding my arm.

They growled at me and I made a step forward. I lunched at them, faster than them, and dived the Claw in them. They screeched and disappeared.

I shivered, disgust spreading in my whole body. Yikes, it was a bad soul.

I widened my eyes when another appeared in the bushes, different in appearance but similar in feelings. From the look of it, I would run out of strength before I got them all.

I dropped on one knee, clutching my left arm hard. It was _painful_ now.

"Sasuke!" I hissed through clenched teeth. "Sasuke wake up, I'm begging you!" We were surrounded. I grabbed a stone and threw it at one of them. It flew right through them.

Right, regular attacks really didn't have any impact then.

With difficulties, I got up. I stumbled for a second and destroyed the closest ghost to Sasuke. I put my feet on each side of his body and kept getting rid of the ghosts, demons, whatever.

"Argh!" I croaked when the pain became unbearable. It was in the whole area covered by the Claw. My arm, my left side, my…

Huh?

"Free!" a man yelled. There was a strange feeling in my left arm, a powerful energy going from my seal to the tip of my fingers in the blink of an eye. A blue flame was expelled from my finger and a man appeared next to me.

I gaped.

Next to me was standing Senju Hashirama. He was see-through and completely a pale, ghostly blue, but it was him.

"Go Akane!" He knew my name already? "I'll take care of them, get the boy in the temple!" He ran to the ghosts and actually punched one of them.

So he could touch them.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts, slipped Sasuke's arm on my shoulders and ran as fast as I could to the temple. It was not far, but Sasuke was not light.

I shut the door behind me and dropped Sasuke against the wall. Once I was in front of the niche, I pulled a flashlight from my bag. The seal was...high-ranked, sure, but normal on first sight. I put the light between my teeth and executed a few hand seals, putting my right hand on the seal. I pulled a blank paper tag from one of my pouches and pressed it against the wall, before putting my right hand on it.

Now I had the entire story of the seal unfolding backward on the paper. Sometimes, you had to dissect a seal to see its true purpose, its real extent.

Sasuke moaned in pain on the floor.

" **There** ," oji-chan told me. I froze the process.

" _I saw it too, you said it faster_." I squinted and moved my face closer. What was that?

" **It's what Umiko liked to call 'Malediction Seal'. A regular seal in appearance but the one who breaks it will be trapped** ," Tobirama added. It was twisted, but she was one of my ancestor, somewhere, so nothing surprising.

Now I knew that, I recognized some things. Yureis were not touched but others would, to keep the secret...a target? God, there was a target indication and…

Akuma?

If it was a target, Sasuke had to have it somewhere on him.

"His neck!" I yelled and ran to him. I turned him face against the floor and brushed hair from his neck. It was damp by sweat.

But here it was. A target seal.

Umiko, you genius bitch.

Much like with the God Tree, I used the Claw to remove the seal, careful not to take Sasuke's soul by accident.

I crushed the seal and immediately, the sounds stopped outside. My arm stopped hurting.

"They're gone?" I wondered out loud.

"Yes they are!" I yelped at Hashirama's face suddenly in front of me. He burst into laughter. "Sorry, sorry Mito's descendant, I'll go back inside." He went back to being a blue flame, very similar to a wisp, and went back in the Claw. The latter disappeared after and I sat on my bottom, drained from any energy.

I probably should get our stuff. The fire was still going, wild animals could get there.

I made a shadow clone.

"I hate myself," she hissed, shambling outside. I waited for her to come back and vanish before falling back and sleep.

When Sasuke woke up the next morning, rubbing his neck with a grimace, I was rummaging in the book of entities I had. I briefed him quickly before stopping on a particular page.

"Found them! 'Akuma. An akuma is the soul of a deceased who could not find rest. It wanders aimlessly in hope to find a human to feed on them in order to restore their souls.' Well, at least now we know what they wanted from you."

"I almost ended up in a meal for some demons," he grouched, his eyes glued to the page.

"You didn't know there was a seal between the lines of the seal you broke. I didn't know either until I went through its historic. Umiko was a...very smart."

"I didn't even see it coming."

"Well, we can layer genjutsu, interlink them with one another, someone with a level good enough in fuinjutsu can do the same. Although, she definitely spent a lot of time on this, to make sure the person taking it would not survive the akumas. That's sick, genius but still pretty twisted." He got up and sprinted outside. "Sasuke?" I heard him throw up. Having your soul almost eaten probably left a bad aftertaste in his mouth. "You need something?" I yelled to him.

He walked back in and took some of his stuff without a word, his hand pressed against his mouth.

I closed the book. I wondered if being so much in my presence, he wasn't starting to have a bad reaction to the Shinigami's…energy coming from me. With the Curse Mark, who knew what it could do to him.

" _Hey Hashirama, I know you can hear me, answer! How long have you been awake?_ "

" **Since you went to Uzushio. It's a tragedy what happened there. The Fourth updated me.** "

" _And none of the other two told me!?_ "

" **You were busy you know** ," oji-chan explained weakly. I rolled my eyes. " **And before you ask, you really need a medium to summon us. The Shodai was a special case, and it would just be a waste of energy for you.** "

" _Dunno, it could be funny pranks for Halloween._ " Tobirama sighing was actually totally what I was expecting.

"You're going to a doctor by the way," I said to Sasuke when he walked back in. He stopped dead in his tracks.

"I'm fine."

"With what happened I'm not taking any chances." I pointed my finger at him when he opened his mouth. "I've raised two Uchihas, don't talk back to me."

And he didn't.

* * *

"And done. Now the seal will filter the village water without a problem. If there were to be one, contact Konoha."

"Thank you Miss," the chief of the village thanked me with a bow. I crossed my hands in front of me with a polite smile on my lips.

"It's nothing, your doctor helped my friend." Sasuke grunted behind me. "Goodbye."

"Have a nice trip." And we were back on the road.

"I couldn't train," Sasuke finally hissed, making a clone.

"Not for long, calm down." We were not far from the village and had stopped for some training when a toad appeared. I frowned. "You're the toad who told me Sasuke defected."

"Yes. Jiraya-sama asked me to tell you the Kazekage has been taken by the Akatsuki. Team Kakashi had been dispatched already."

"Thank you." He left and I grabbed my stuff, like Sasuke. "We're south-east from Konoha, so it might take longer for us, maybe three days and a half or four to get there. Kakashi's team will go to Suna first and then most likely after Gaara, with a lead."

"Let's head to Suna." I nodded and we took off.

Alright.

The second act had officially started. Hopefully, we wouldn't reach the third act: the Fourth Great Ninja War.

* * *

 **Hey! Thanks for reading and leave a review to tell me what you thought of this chapter! I've been absent, I know, but I worked all summer and needed a break from writing and posting. Thanks to thor94 for the review, although no, no God like Naruto. I still have to think about what he'll be like as I've already worked a lot on Sasuke, but I have some ideas.**

 **Bye!**


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